democratic guts

This is what guts looks like!

UPDATE: Seems Ezra Klein may be backing a different horse. It’s on.

what the world wants

The world wants something which it is dimly aware could exist, but cannot accurately define – George Orwell

I really think George hits this one on the head. The above quote is from an essay in which Orwell describes the inability of mankind to describe utopias in which anyone would want to live. His account of the descriptions of Heaven is, I think, pretty fair. I wonder why it is that our imaginations cannot stretch to the conception of a perfect world.

pollack on public health

Pollack, guesting for my blogger-in-law Ezra Klein, makes an excellent point about prisons as an asset for public health. Anyone know about the state of prison health in Australia? (it’s getting formulaic- but today is Australia Day!)

enough on chad

Don’t Leave Chad Hanging | Enough

The enough project is a worthwhile blog to follow for those interested in humanitarian lobbying. Anyone know if we have something similar in Aus?

Hey Kevin, let’s go for 0.7%

…of our GNI given to foreign aid as we agreed in order to meet the Millenium Development Goals.

Now I couldn’t find GNI stats, but our GDP (PPP) is north of Illinois and south of Florida (figure that one out). My point is that while the gesture is meaningful, the impact is limited of any extra spending Australia does.

I’d prefer it if K-Rudd took his 0.4% GNI (that we have promised, but not spent) and instead paid for large numbers of experimental poverty-fighting programs. Make Australia the brains of the poverty fight, and then convince Obama to employ the United States’ muscle once we’ve come up with some extremely effective and voter-inspiring approaches. I’ve got no doubt that current approaches are sufficient to save and improve lives, but they clearly don’t inspire. Solutions have to be politically acceptable at home as well as effective abroad.

Then the Aussies will get all the Peace Prizes too!

bible blogging – genesis 3

By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return  - Genesis 3:19

I mowed the lawn today, and my face got very sweaty. Kind of a good reminder.

I haven’t yet got a coherent theology of work.  The other week at church the speaker stated clearly that work is for living, that is, we are to work to maintain the other things (family, gospel work, etc) which are what life is really about. I don’t instinctively agree with this. Surely God is gracious, and gives to some a higher purpose in work than the maintenance of living activities.

I think this squares with Ephesians 6, where wholehearted obedience to overseers is identified with obedience to Christ. At least the manner in which we work is important to God. I would like to take it further and say that the substance of what we do at work can be valuable. But I am as yet unable to make a strong biblical argument. I will be keeping an eye out for more indication either way.

lives of the saints – eastern chad

Jonathan Harr writes a feature at the New Yorker on UN workers in Chad. Interesting reading. I find it useful sometimes to look at satellite pictures of some of these places. This for example is the village of Hadjer Hadid, mentioned in the article as the site of a rebel looting of a market. I often have trouble really appreciating that these are real places where real people live. The pictures help.

my new year resolution

2009 is the year for the institutes!

Choice quote so far (I’m on page 13):

Were the judgments of mankind correct, custom would be regulated by the good.

bible blogging – acts 2

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. – Acts 2:36

The whole thing is slightly too long to post above, but if you haven’t before (even if you just haven’t for a while) read the first Christian sermon, it’s worth doing so here. How many sermons do you think there have been since? Probably in the hundreds of billions, I’d imagine. The story has not changed.

fiction since high school

A friend just mentioned to me that he hadn’t read as much fiction since finishing high school. So here is my list of my top five (unordered) favourite fiction reads since finishing year 12.

1. Kurt Vonnegut – Breakfast of Champions
2. Patrick O’Brien – Post Captain (Second book of the Master and Commander series, the first is also essential but I preferred this one)
3. Susanna Clarke  - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
4. Stephen King – The Stand
5. Aldous Huxley – Brave New World

That turned out surprisingly Sci-fi heavy.