famine

Today's email from Democrats.com was a keeper, with its mix of (1) identity politics, (2) a (refreshing, frankly) confession, (3) promises to end war, and (4) promises to end natural disasters. Dang, maybe I do need to vote for Obama:

Last night the Democratic Party made history by nominating the first major-party African-American candidate for President, Barack Obama.

Odd to hear that from a journalist. I spend about 5-8 hours a day combing the Internet for news stories, and frankly, most of it is just so sad or bad, we all need a break from it.

Here's your news in shorthand today:

It seems that the whole world has turned upside down , and I don't mean the polar shift or whatever that thing that is suppose to happen in 2012. The Middle East is a powder keg fixing to explode,gas is going through the roof, food, famine, weather and this election is unreal...

I’m tired of death, doom, overdrafting, gas prices, war, famine, and reality. For a moment — just 5 minutes — let’s take a breather.

Here’s some fun stuff to waste time with…

Girls Rock!

I watched The Reaping last night. 

I was left with some questions, questions which get to the heart of the movie (that’s B-speak for “spoilers ahead”).

1.  Is the house in The Reaping the same as the house in The Skeleton Key?

this was sent to me by one of my beloved youth ministry buddies. sad for them, but it was a pick-me-up that gave me a much needed giggle.

What exactly constitutes ‘unfair’ trade?

The answer may (or may not) surprise you. One of the most frequent violators of ‘fair trade’ practices are usually governments. But not just developing or ‘3rd world’ countries governments exploiting an underpaid workforce, but frequently it is large developed countries, charitable organizations, and NGO’s who actually mean to be doing good.

I was surprised this morning as I was reading the Bible (yes, I'm still going strong on a new year's kick, but leviticus and others loom in the distance...). I was coming to the end of Genesis, which in my mind is one of those pinnacle moments of redemption and forgiveness and grace and all the like as Joseph and his brothers re-unite and there is crying and celebration, and it is just a wonderful story. There have been movies made about much weaker story lines than this, but I digress.