WHAT'S NEW

About
My Other Blog
Blog Schedule
Activism
Past Blog Posts
Various &
a Sundry Blogs
Favorite
Websites
My Stuff
On The Web
Audio-Visual Updated: 05/27/2025
Favorite
Articles
This Month's Scripture Verse:

For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
I Timothy 6:10

SEARCH THIS BLOG

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Views From The Left For June 25, 2025

 Views From The Left 

Articles:

Below is a list of articles from a sampling of leftist websites. The articles listed below express views that will sometimes be divergent from the views of the owner of this blog. Reliability ratings of each source will be in parentheses.

Martin Luther King statement made when speaking against the Vietnam War (click here for source):

'I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin...we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.'


<< Previous Views                                                   Next Views >>

Factual Reliability Rating

    I am using two websites that rate the factual reliability of news sources used by this feature. In comparing the two ratings, Mediabiasfactcheck gives more 'High' scores for various news sources while Adfontesmedia gives reliability ratings that are based more on bias. Also, while some news sources, none of these are listed below, will receive the highest factual reporting rating by Mediabiasfactcheck, that is not the case with Adfontesmedia.

I find that the best way to choose a news source reliability rating is to use the trial and error method. Here, one should count how many times a news information source site posts an article that is eventually shown to be false and compare that count with the factual reliability rating given by sites like Medeabiasfactcheck and Adfontesmedia.

  • Alternet  
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck   : High
    2. Adfontesmedia           : Generally Reliable
  • Common Dreams 
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck :    : High
    2. Adfontesmedia.           : Generally Reliable
  • Democracy at Work 
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck.    : Not rated
    2. Adfontesmedia.            : Not rated
  • Democracy Now
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck.     : High
    2. Adfontesmedia              : Mixed Reliability
  • Jacobin 
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck        : High
    2. Adfontesmedia.               : Mixed Reliability
  • Mother Jones
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck.         : High
    2. Adfontesmedia.                 : Generally Reliable
  • The Real News Network 
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck          : High
    2. Adfontesmedia                  : Generally Reliable
  • Socialist Worker 
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck.        : High
    2. Adfontesmedia                   : Mixed Reliability
  • ZNetwork 
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck            : High
    2. Adfontesmedia                    : Not Rated


 

Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

What Kind Of Peace Do They Want?

The title of a DW program, DW is a German public television network, caught my eye. The title compared the desires for peace by both President Trump and Pope Leo XIV (click here for the program). There is no doubt in my mind that both Trump and Pope Leo XIV want peace. But our comparison should not end there. The next comparison we should make is means used by each person to achieve peace.

We can confidently claim that President Trump wants peace. How do I know that? It is because Trump is an authoritarian leader and all such leaders want peace. That is true of even leaders like Vlad Putin and Netanyahu. But there we should not shy away from examining their employed means to achieve peace.

Authoritarian leaders want to achieve peace through dominating those on the other side. Examples here include Putin's suppression of dissent by Russian citizens, his attempts to disappear opponents, and his invasion of Ukraine. For Netanyahu, his treatment of Palestinians provides his means to achieving peace. Yes, the October 7th attacks were horrible atrocities for which those involved must face severe consequences. But Hamas's October 7th attacks were not a first strike; those attacks were one of the many responses that Palestinian terrorists have made to Israel's brutal Occupation. Currently, the Occupation is being used as a cover for Israel's attempts to annex more and more land from the Palestinians.

And so now we come to Trump whose motto seems to be strike first and strike a deal later. He has attacked various nations, including important allies, with tariffs. He has written Executive Orders that target law firms that have represented the Democrats. He has been withholding funding from Universities including from their medical research. And, most recently. He is involved in tag-team wrestling attacks on Iran with Israel.

To attempt to negotiate first with another party while treating them as an equal, seems to be highly recommended by both Pope Leo XIV and his immediate predecessor. In other words, they strongly prefer  showing respect to the other party and seeking to be reconciled to using coercion. Another way to put it is that while Leo XIV urges mutual cooperation, Trump's first move is to attack so that he can force compliance by the other party. 

When we look at Trump's efforts to achieve peace in different parts of the world, including the US, it is clear that he favors the threat or use of force. How did he want peace to be achieved between Russia and Ukraine? He initially wanted Zelensky to accept a peace plan that called concessions to be made only by Ukraine. And so if Zelensky didn't acquiesce to Russia's demands, then the war would continue and Zelensky would be risking WW III. And, btw, the war is going the direction that this blog said it would; the war will eventually be won by Russia.

And note the disparity in time between Trump using tariffs as sanctions against America's former allies, such as those in NATO,  and his neglect to use of tariffs against Russia for invading Ukraine. Or look at how Trump proposed that Iran was to stop Israeli aggression with its Pearl Harbor surprise attacks on Iran. He demanded that Iran unconditionally surrender to Israel's violence. Or look at his proposal for peace in Gaza, and his silence on what is happening in the West Bank. He proposed a total ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

Or look at how he reacted to the small protests against ICE that were occurring in LA. He sent in the National Guard and the Marines when their presence was totally uncalled for and unnecessary.

The self-proclaimed premiere dealmaker of the world shoots first, with some kind of attack, and asks for a deal second. His use of tariffs was intended to create a shock effect in hopes that his targets would grovel for new trade agreements in response.

Now we need to look at how the new Pope looks at achieving peace. He is following in the footsteps of his predecessor. And his predecessor, Pope Francis, denounced the use of war. The new and, possibly,  improved Pope calls for peace to be achieved through mutual respect for the dignity of all sides.

Now some might regard Pope Leo's call for peace through mutual respect as proof that he is woke. And those who interpret the new Pope that way would be partially right. But where the new Pope is not woke doesn't address the question being asking by this article. 

And so no, the peace that Trump wants to achieve is not the same kind of peace that Pope Leo XIV wants to make. For employing mutual respect in contrast to attempting to dominate have nothing in common neither in terms of the means of achieving peace nor the kind of peace that is reached.

Historically, there have been times when dominating through force was necessary to achieve a just peace. WW II was an example of that when the Axis powers attempted to dominate the world. Overwhelming force was needed to arrest those efforts and reboot international relations. But in a nuclear age, we need to ask whether such efforts to dominate are not just counterproductive to achieving a just and long-lasting peace, but a serious threat to the whole world.

That being said, we must conclude that Trump and the Pope do not share the same desire for peace. And it is important to make that distinction. While the former is the epitome of the lack of self-restraint, the latter is the epitome of showing self-restraint. And this is an an important point to make lest we, in a state of confusion, conflate the desires for peace held by Trump and the Pope. Though both want peace, they don't want the same kind of peace.




Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Friday, June 13, 2025

Blog Break

Please note that the dates from the last posting of this blogpost have changed.

For technical reasons I am taking a blog break from posting from Friday, June 13th to Monday, June 23rd. The next new post will be on Tuesday, June 24th. In the meantime, you can visit some of the other pages on this blog accessed through the tabs shown above or the incomplete list below. 

 Other Pages

  1. Audio-Visual Library Page (this is my favorite page on the website)--has recently been updated
  2. Activism page
        Needs updating
  3. Favorite Articles page
        Needs updating
  4. Favorite Websites page
        Needs updating
  5. Past Blog Posts page
       Needs updating
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Views From The Left For June 11, 2025

Views From The Left 

Articles:

Below is a list of articles from a sampling of leftist websites. The articles listed below express views that will sometimes be divergent from the views of the owner of this blog. Reliability ratings of each source will be in parentheses.

Martin Luther King statement made when speaking against the Vietnam War (click here for source):

'I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin...we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.'



<< Previous Views                                                   Next Views >>

Factual Reliability Rating

    I am using two websites that rate the factual reliability of news sources used by this feature. In comparing the two ratings, Mediabiasfactcheck gives more 'High' scores for various news sources while Adfontesmedia gives reliability ratings that are based more on bias. Also, while some news sources, none of these are listed below, will receive the highest factual reporting rating by Mediabiasfactcheck, that is not the case with Adfontesmedia.

I find that the best way to choose a news source reliability rating is to use the trial and error method. Here, one should count how many times a news information source site posts an article that is eventually shown to be false and compare that count with the factual reliability rating given by sites like Medeabiasfactcheck and Adfontesmedia.

  • Alternet  
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck   : High
    2. Adfontesmedia           : Generally Reliable
  • Common Dreams 
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck :    : High
    2. Adfontesmedia.           : Generally Reliable
  • Democracy at Work 
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck.    : Not rated
    2. Adfontesmedia.            : Not rated
  • Democracy Now
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck.     : High
    2. Adfontesmedia              : Mixed Reliability
  • Jacobin 
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck        : High
    2. Adfontesmedia.               : Mixed Reliability
  • Mother Jones
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck.         : High
    2. Adfontesmedia.                 : Generally Reliable
  • The Real News Network 
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck          : High
    2. Adfontesmedia                  : Generally Reliable
  • Socialist Worker 
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck.        : High
    2. Adfontesmedia                   : Mixed Reliability
  • ZNetwork 
    1. Mediabiasfactcheck            : High
    2. Adfontesmedia                    : Not Rated
Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

The Book Of James And Trump's Policies

 What has been contended for by this blog is that Europe and North America are facing a dangerous and growing threat to Democracy with Equality. The menace here is Authoritarianism with Hierarchy. We should note that both of the those term are redundancies. That is because just as one cannot have Democracy without equality, neither will one have hierarchy without Authoritarianism.

The Authoritarianism with Hierarchy often campaigns as an ethnocracy. And ethnocracy occurs with an ethnic group takes such control of a nation that that ethnic group not only dominates the other ethnic groups, it gains a place of privilege in society including in determining the laws of a society. Jeff Halper lists the ethnicities around which an ethnic group can be defined: race, descent, religion, language or national origin. 

In Russia, the ethnocracy is a façade meant to gain enough popular support to gain or maintain power. The real hierarchy in the Russia is a group of ruling elites including its totalitarian leader. That it is the rich who are shown a great deal of partiality by its government. Not surprisingly, Russia's present is our near future if our President has anything to say about.

What does President Trump want for America? For one thing, he wants to be America's CEO. This means that he is defining the role of President to be that of a totalitarian leader. Those who oppose or disagree him and his policies will be fired in a metaphysical but significant sense. And what his policies show is a favoritism toward the rich as seen in the cutting of their social responsibility ties to society, his economic policies, a weakened government's ability to hold the wealthy accountable, reduction in social safety nets, and in new immigration policies. And regarding immigration,  we should note that Trump opens America's arms to passionately embrace those who are wealthy which includes those who can pay $5 million to enter the nation and wealth-endowed South African landowners. On the other hand, Trump has pretty much shut the door on most immigration from South of the border many of whom emigrate to America to escape life-threatening poverty and violence. 

And so what does the New Testament book of James say about Trump's showing of partiality to the wealthy? The following gives us a hint. Here we should note that in his epistle, James is writing to Jewish Christians in the quote below which comes from chapter 2:

My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. 2 For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, 3 and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil [d]motives? 5 Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? 7 Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?

Now we should note what James says to many who are rich because they have exploited people:

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! 4 Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.

Some opportunists from the Left want to believe that James was channeling Marx when speaking about the rich. He wasn't. After all Marx was most concerned about the redistribution of power from which the redistribution of wealth would naturally occur. James says nothing about the redistribution of power. But Christians who support Trump should take note of what James says regarding showing partiality to the wealthy as well as his condemnation of many who are rich.

And so even though we must exercise great caution when applying the standards that the New Testament does to believers in Christ to laws for society, the favoritism that Trump is showing to the wealthy should be disturbing to us believers. That is especially true when we see James's description of the rich. In the earlier quote, James describes the rich using the law to persecute Christians. In the latter quote, James describes the rich as exploiting workers.

Certainly we should not use these passages from James to stereotype the wealthy for there are enough counterexamples to the kind of rich people whom James described. But we see enough rich people in society who warrant James's comments about the rich. Now as whether or not Christians should engage in what some of my fellow Leftists advcocate, which is to 'eat the rich,' that is addressed in the part of James's epistles that follows the 2nd quote above. Spoiler Alert: The answer is NO!

But there is one more passage from the Bible that we should reflect on before supportingTrump's current economic policies. That passage is from Ezekiel 16:48-50 as the prophet speaks to Israel about its sins:

48 As I live,” declares the Lord God, “Sodom, your sister and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. 49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. 50 Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it


Note the reference to Sodom in the above passage. It is the same Sodom as the Sodom of Sodom and Gomorrah fame. And so the issue here, especially for us believers in Christ, is not whom you voted for. The issue is what policies are we actively or passively supporting. What policies are we speaking about or being silent on. The issue is in what direction do we want to see our nation going? The direction in which we want our nation to go is significantly reflected by how we want the vulnerable to be treated. Do we at least want them to be treated with the same importance as the rich have? Or do we want a hierarchy where one economic class, especially the class that can buy our government, is shown partiality at the expense of the rest of us? Do we want a government and nation that regards all citizens as being equally important or do we prefer to go the way of Sodom, as just mentioned, or of the Israelites whom Ezekiel was speaking to? Are we going to promote equality between all groups of people in America or are we going to show the partiality that James warned his fellow Jewish believers in Christ against.

Because of some of the democratic tools available to us, we have the power to influence the direction in which our nation will go and the importance that each group of Americans will be recognized as having. What are we going to do?







Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,

Friday, June 6, 2025

Views From The Outside For June 6, 2025

 Views From The Outside

The purpose of this page is to list news stories and reports from mostly Western sources outside of the U.S. You can use Google Translate to translate articles that are printed in another language. 

So far, news sources include:

International

From Canada

From England

From France

From Germany

From Russian Source 

From Switzerland

From Ukraine

   
<< Previous Views                                                    Next Views >>


Posted by at No comments:
Labels:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)