The US Economy is Failing
https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/09/29/the-us-economy-is-failing/
2017/9/29 | Click here for the online version of this IPS newsletter |
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Merkel’s Defeat Confirms Dismail Trend for Europe
Roberto Savio
Generally, media have failed to analyse why the result of German
elections is the worst possible. Merkel is not a winner, but a leader
now in a very fragile position, who will have to make many compromises
and pay now for her mistakes. Let us make at least the most important
four points of ...
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Finally, Argentina Has a Law on Access to Public Information
Daniel Gutman
After 15 long years of public campaigns and debates in which different
political, social and business sectors held marches and
counter-protests, Argentina finally has a new law that guarantees access
to public information.
This step forward must now be reflected in reality, in this South ...
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To Be an Egyptian Migrant in Rome (And Also Make Great Pizza)
Baher Kamal
“I asked him: do you want to come with us to Greece? He said: ‘Why not?’
So my wife and myself packed up and drove to Athens to open our
‘trattoria’ there.”
Mario* (63) and his wife Concetta* (57) started telling their story
while waiting for the chef to prepare three pizzas and one spaghetti ...
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Marginalised Minorities and Homeless Especially Hard-hit by Mexico’s Quake
Emilio Godoy
Maricela Fernández, an indigenous woman from the Ñañhú or Otomà people,
shows the damages that the Sept. 19 earthquake inflicted on the old
house where 10 families of her people were living as squatters, in a
neighbourhood in the center-west of Mexico City.
The magnitude 7.1 quake, mainly felt ...
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Malawi’s Communal Fight Against Deadly Avian Disease
Charles Mkoka
Lydia Katengeza, a community vaccinator with the Nathenje Community Vaccination Association (NCVA), wakes up as early as 5 a.m.,
ready with her I-2 vaccine vial in a storage container in her hand. She
moves from one house to another, visiting each poultry farmer. All of
them are alerted a day in ...
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Where Do 50 Million Tonnes a Year of Toxic E-Waste Go?
Baher Kamal
Each year, the electronics industry generates up to 41 million tonnes of
e-waste, but as the number of consumers rises, and the lifespan of
devices shrinks in response to demand for the newest and best, that
figure could reach 50 million tonnes this year, according to specialised
studies.
Of ...
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Mercury Mining Awaits International Control in Mexico
Emilio Godoy
For environmentalist Patricia Ruiz the only word that comes to mind is
“devastating,” when describing the situation of mercury mining in her
home state of Querétaro in central Mexico.
“There are a large number of pits (from which the mercury is extracted),
and there are the tailing ponds ...
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More Public Spending, Not Tax Cuts, for Sustainable, Inclusive Growth
Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
The Trump administration’s promise to increase infrastructure spending
should break the straightjacket the Republicans imposed on the Obama
administration after capturing the US Congress in 2010. However, in
proportionate terms, it falls far short of Roosevelt’s New Deal effort
to revive the US ...
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Crisis in Cameroon Spurs Govt Crackdown on Press
Mbom Sixtus
“For too long we have been afraid to speak out against injustices and
all sorts of atrocities happening in Cameroon, thinking it will protect
us. If I were to repeat what I have done on Canal 2 English , I will do
it again. I now stand ready for any eventuality,” says Cameroonian
journalist Elie ...
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The Urbanization of Malnutrition
Manipadma Jena
Rapid urbanization is increasingly shifting the impacts of malnutrition
from rural to urban areas. One in three stunted under-five children out
of 155 million across the world now lives in cities and towns.
Degrading land productivity, deepening impacts of changes in climate,
conflict, and food ...
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Seek the Lord while He may be found | |||||
We have a very beautiful first reading from Isaiah ‑ "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." Lovely poetry, often quoted but the beginning of this reading is perhaps, more practical. Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call Him while He is near. Is there anyone you would like to say that to? Someone who, perhaps, was once a seeker of the Lord. Someone, close to you, a relative or a friend or maybe a child who has now gone in another direction? | |||||
Such a person was Dan Wakefield, a novelist and screenwriter. He used to call himself a former Christian, a fallen angel. He lived the high life of New York and Hollywood. His books were best sellers and two of them became movies. He led a dissolute life in the very fast lane. On Christmas Eve in Boston he left his grand hotel and went to look for a bar, a bar with local color. He passed King's Chapel and he saw people going in. He thought to himself, oh yes, I remember Christmas Eve, that is what people do, they go to church. So he stumbled into the church and sat down by the crib. Seeing the Christ child there, that gentle God in human form and the words of St. John's Gospel kept going through his mind ‑ and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. | |||||
He was caught by old memories of his family and a new emptiness in his life. Something resonated in his soul and it was not long before he returned to his roots, to Christ. He wrote a very beautiful book about that return, it is simply called Returning. He sought and he found the crib and its memories had caught him. | |||||
Another person who was seeking was a young woman named Catherine Whitemore. She grew up an Episcopalian and she had good memories. She writes about coloring books in Bible school and stories about Jesus. In college she never went to church and she scoffed at organized religion. After her mother died, she decided she wanted to go back. She looked in the Yellow Pages and found 48 listings for Episcopal Churches. The first one was very grand with a famous choir and Liturgy. It all felt rather anonymous, you were an onlooker just listening to the wonderful music. Watching the movements on the Altar, she felt like part of an audience. She kept searching and found a small church where everyone took part in the Liturgy but what first attracted her was the large crucifix on the Altar. Her first thought was God so loved me that he allowed this to be done to His son. This is not the way I would have saved the world. | |||||
No ‑ God's thoughts are not our thoughts ‑ God's ways are not our ways. It is interesting the paths these two seekers, Dan Wakefield and Catherine Whitemore, took. One is captured by the crib and the other by the cross but both were captured by the memories they stirred up. | |||||
The basic testimony of both these people is that their return was precisely that, a return. That is to say that someone in their young years had already laid a foundation. There were pictures and prayers and Bible school and family church goings. Later on it is true, they left all that but it did not leave them. Grace was but dormant, merely waiting, waiting to be resurrected by the crib or the cross of another time, put there by someone significant. | |||||
Their stories remind us of the importance of laying good foundations. The importance of you being here, the praise you are giving to God, the worship together, the example and witness. In short, the memories you are creating for this community, this family, this parish. Never underestimate the power of memories. | |||||
Whether you teach others the gentleness and nearness of the crib or the demands and cost of the cross, do it early, do it often, do it faithfully, do it with your own lives. Never forget Isaiah's message ‑ seek the Lord while He may be found and call Him while He is near. | |||||
If you do not forget perhaps, someone someday will remember. They will remember what you showed them by example and maybe, the crib or the cross will remind them that the Lord is near to all who call upon Him. | |||||
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Why Hurricanes Harvey and Irma Won’t Lead to Action on Climate Change | The Energy Collective Daily |