Saturday, December 30, 2023

30: Christmas



‘The Miraculous Is Essential’: A Conversation About Christmas, God and Faith
Ukraine Doesn’t Need All Its Territory to Defeat Putin
Tesla Strike Is a Culture Clash: Swedish Labor vs. American Management Workers seeking a collective agreement from the automaker say they are pushing for their rights, but car owners see them as taking the fight too far......... Polls show a majority of Swedes support the strike, widely viewed as a defense of the country’s consensus-based way of doing business. Nine in 10 people in Sweden work under a labor agreement, and strikes are relatively rare. But as the walkout continues, questions are being raised about whether Sweden’s reliance on labor-management agreements denies businesses flexibility and agility.

A.I. Is the Future of Photography. Does That Mean Photography Is Dead? Thanks to the ubiquity of digital cameras, we live in a world that’s already flooded with photographs; more than a trillion are taken each year.



The Free Speech Debate on Campus About the Israel-Gaza War
Why the World Needs Its Own Immune System
JN.1 Now Accounts for Nearly Half of U.S. Covid Cases Here’s what to know about the coronavirus variant, which was first detected in the United States in September.



This Is Why Jesus Wept
The Forgotten Radicalism of Jesus Christ First-century Christians weren’t prepared for what a truly inclusive figure he was, and what was true then is still true today....... He shattered barrier after barrier. ....... The encounter with Jesus transformed her life; after it the woman at the well became “the first woman preacher in Christian history,” proclaiming Jesus to be the savior of the world to her community ........ “A Samaritan woman and her community are sought out and welcomed by Jesus. In the process, ancient racial, theological and historical barriers are breached. His message and his community are for all.” ......... Jesus was repeatedly attacked for hanging out with the wrong crowd and recruited his disciples from the lower rungs of society. ....... Jesus was most drawn to the forsaken and despised, the marginalized, those who had stumbled and fallen. He was beloved by them, even as he was targeted and eventually killed by the politically and religiously powerful, who viewed Jesus as a grave threat to their dominance. ......... Jesus sees indelible dignity and inestimable worth in every person, even “the least of these.” If no one else would esteem them, Jesus would. ........ Among the people who best articulated this ethic was Abraham Lincoln, who in a 1858 speech in Lewiston, Ill., in which he explained the true meaning of the Declaration of Independence, said, “Nothing stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its fellows.” ......... We place loyalty to the tribe over compassion and human connection. We view differences as threatening; the result is we become isolated, rigid in our thinking, harsh and unforgiving. .............. The wisest question those of us who are Christians could ask ourselves isn’t why we are so much more humane and enlightened than they were; rather, it is to ask ourselves who the modern outcasts are and whether we’re mistreating them. ....... what ultimately changes people’s lives are relationships rather than rule books, mercy rather than moral demands. ......... Every generation of Christians need to think through how his example applies to the times in which they live. We need our sensibilities to align more with his. Otherwise, we drift into self-righteousness and legalism, even to the point that we corrupt the very institution, the church, which was created to worship him and to love others. .......... understanding people’s stories and struggles requires much more time and effort than condemning them, but it is vastly more rewarding. And the lesson of Christmas and the incarnation, at least for those of us of the Christian faith, is that all of us were once outcasts, broken yet loved, and worth reaching out to and redeeming.

Christmas Turns the World Upside Down What does it mean for God’s power to be “made perfect in weakness”? ........ it was not an entrance characterized by privilege, comfort, public celebration or self-glorification; it was marked instead by lowliness, obscurity, humility, fragility. ......... The circumstances of Jesus’ birth “were calculated to establish his detachment from power and authority in human terms” ......... “Christ was born in a manger to a family for whom there was no room,” Craig Barnes, the president of Princeton Theological Seminary, told me. “He was raised by unremarkable parents in an unremarkable part of the world, conducted a ministry that was missed by most people, died as a criminal on a cross, and his ascension was seen only by a small band of disciples who then led a movement that within three centuries changed the world.” ........... Jesus’ energies and affections were primarily aimed toward social outcasts, the downtrodden and “unclean,” strangers and aliens, prostitutes and the powerless. The people Jesus clashed with and who eventually crucified him were religious authorities and those who wielded political power. The humble will be exalted, Jesus said, and the last shall be first. True greatness is shown through serving others and sacrifice. ........... Most of us know that we often grow in times of weakness rather than strength, when we face hardship rather than experience success. That isn’t always the case; sometimes hardships and suffering simply overwhelm us and no good thing comes from them. .......... Last week, a friend who is a counselor told me of a former colleague of his who, because of chronic pain, was bedridden for two years. That pain she’s now largely free of. He described his former colleague as one the most cheerful and loving people he’s ever met. “She’s a better person” for having gone through her ordeal, he said. The point my friend was making isn’t that suffering is good but that sometimes it can serve a purpose. This is true for people of different faiths and people of no faith. ........... No one has ever said, ‘I was so successful I just had to come to Jesus.’” .......... That’s where peace begins: Surrender, in powerlessness.” ........... Power understood through the prism of Christianity is different from how the world generally understands power. ......... the difference between power over others and the power of connecting with others, which she said requires that there be openness and vulnerability. ........ As I understand the words of Jesus as recorded in II Corinthians, weakness opens us up to a fundamentally new definition of strength — strength that is not coercive, domineering, prideful and self-seeking but rather compassionate, sacrificial, humble and empathetic. God’s power, perfected through our weakness, makes us instruments of mercy, seekers of justice, agents of reconciliation. It helps us see the world in a different way. ......... “Jesus was most frequently out among the people — engaging and paying attention to the realities of ordinary people’s lives and helping them see that in God’s eyes they are extraordinary — and so often these are the people who are viewed as weak in the world. I am learning how to live well from those who hold very little worldly power but who are some of the most content and real people I’ve ever met.”

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

27: Jay Sah



In Letter Heavy With Irony, Navalny Describes Transfer to Arctic Prison The comments from the Russian opposition leader were written with a heavy dose of humor, and seemed intended to assuage concerns among allies after his three-week disappearance.

How Trump Is Running Differently This Time
Putin Quietly Signals He Is Open to a Cease-Fire in Ukraine Despite its bravado in public, the Kremlin has indicated its interest in striking a deal to halt the war — so long as it could still declare victory.



Wednesday, December 20, 2023

20: Russia

A Different Path Israel Could Have Taken — and Maybe Still Can Nimrod Novik, a former adviser to Shimon Peres, discusses how Israel could work toward a two-state solution.

For Palestinians, the Future Is Being Bulldozed
The Old New Way to Provide Cheap Housing
How Britain Put One of the World’s Best Health Care Systems on Life Support
The Timeless Investing Wisdom of Charlie Munger, Buffett’s No. 2
The Oct. 7 Warning That Israel Ignored
Fighting to Govern Myanmar, From a Teeny Office in Washington The National Unity Government of Myanmar, formed as an alternative to the junta that orchestrated a 2021 coup, has to battle global apathy and ignorance as it struggles for recognition.

20: AI

Denying the Gender-Based Violence of Oct. 7 Helps No One Rape in war is underreported, difficult to track and hard to corroborate. ...... From the earliest days after Oct. 7, individual supporters of all sides have disseminated and fallen for distortions and blatant fabrications. This war comes at a time of minimal global trust and maximal ability to seek out evidence that supports whatever theory suits one’s political context. ........ there is no legitimate military aim that rationalizes sexual violence, only a desire to dominate, hurt and humiliate. .......... a means of undermining stories of violence that has worked throughout the ages, as women have been told to keep quiet for the cause or encouraged not to ruin a good man’s life or written largely out of history as inconvenient or even deserving victims of the good guys. ......... The horrors of this war do not have to be either/or. One can both face the mountain of evidence of sexual violence on Oct. 7 and confront the staggering Palestinian death toll — people who were not mere collateral damage but individuals whose lives were brutally snatched away and many more who will carry this displacement and loss and trauma with them for the rest of their lives. One can seek to understand the context in which a group like Hamas comes to be and curb the impulse to recast openly misogynist fundamentalists into freedom fighters. One can hold deep contempt for this right-wing Israeli government and oppose this war with every bone in one’s body.

Trump ‘Could Tip an Already Fragile World Order Into Chaos’ While the domestic danger posed by a second Trump administration is immediate and pressing, Russia, China, North Korea and Iran — sometimes referred to as the “alliance of autocracies” — have an interest in weakening the global influence of the United States and in fracturing its ties to democracies around the globe. .......... the “the 4 plus 1 threat matrix — the five main threats of Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and transnational violent extremism or terrorism” ......... “I would expect to see more of what we saw in the last administration: a lot of bluster, a lot of braggadocious declarations about how countries are taking the United States seriously now, but not a lot of change.” .......... Trump is an authoritarian nationalist. He fits right into the mold of the “autocrats,” as in his teasing statement to Sean Hannity — and in a very recent Iowa town hall — that he would only behave in a dictatorial fashion on ‘day one’ of his presidency. .......... While it is inconceivable that Trump could realign the United States with China, Russia and North Korea, Winer wrote, “what he could do is make the U.S. ‘neutral,’ just as the American First movement professed ‘neutrality’ in relation to the fascist threat prior to Pearl Harbor.” ............ If “alliance” is only intended to mean general cooperation among China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, then that is clearly happening. North Korea and Iran are supplying Russia with artillery shells and drones. Russia is supplying China with energy. China is supplying Russia with political cover at various international venues over the war in Ukraine. ............ Trump’s re-election, according to Medish, “would provide further evidence — in the eyes of Moscow, Beijing, Pyongyang and Tehran — of U.S. disarray and the decline of the West.” ....... We are not the Roman Empire, we are the Roman Republic. .......... “What will Trump do? Who knows?,” Kagan replied. “Who knows whether Trump himself has a foreign policy.” Trump “will certainly not have pro-liberal prejudices as most previous U.S. presidents have, at least since World War II. He will make common cause with right-wing forces in Europe, as he did in his first term.” ......... “Trump’s foreign policy will be unpredictable because we haven’t had a dictator as commander in chief. It will be uncharted territory.” ........ He is a man without borders, without conscience, without dignity, ethics or integrity, committed only to what he perceives to be in his own interest. He admires dictators who rule without constraint, and if he believes it would be to his advantage to join them, there is nothing — in his mind or his character — that would stop him.

We Are No Strangers to Human Suffering, but We’ve Seen Nothing Like the Siege of Gaza In the more than two months since the horrifying attack on Israel that killed more than 1,200 people and resulted in some 240 abductions, about 18,000 Gazans — including more than 7,500 children — have been killed, according to the Gazan health ministry. More children have been reported killed in this conflict than in all major global conflicts combined last year. ......... The atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7 were unconscionable and depraved, and the taking and holding of hostages is abhorrent. The calls for their release are urgent and justified. But the right to self-defense does not and cannot require unleashing this humanitarian nightmare on millions of civilians. It is not a path to accountability, healing or peace. In no other war we can think of in this century have civilians been so trapped, without any avenue or option to escape to save themselves and their children. ........... The few areas left in Gaza that are untouched by bombardment are shrinking by the hour, forcing more and more civilians to seek safety that does not exist. Over 80 percent of 2.3 million Gazans are now displaced. The newest Israeli offensive is now forcing them to cluster on a tiny sliver of land. ..........



WHAT IS THE PATH TO PEACE IN GAZA?
The ‘no limits’ Russo-Chinese alliance is taking flight
Madhya Pradesh: CM Mohan Yadav takes 'bulldozer action' on man's house who cut off BJP leader's hand

Thursday, December 14, 2023

100 Top Economists In Kathmandu Have Endorsed The Kalkiist Manifesto



कल्किवादी मेनिफेस्टो समझनेका सबसे आसान तरिका भगवान कल्कि के परिचयको समझना
Will Clean Sweep The Next Election
नमस्ते बोलु आ चाहे बोलु नमशैतान
Jay Sah On Rishi Dhamala's TV Program
कलियुग के अंत का शंखनाद जनकपुरधाम से
Moving From GDP To Gross Domestic Requirement (GDR) As Per Kalkiism
An Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent God
Ravan Babhan
It Is Going To Be Easy For Modi To Identify Lord Kalki
NamaShaitan MahaAbhiyan
Can't Harvest AI Without The Knowledge Of Geeta
मानव इतिहास के सबसे अधिक प्रतिक्षित व्यक्ति अभी धरती पर हैं
One Nation, One Employer
30 September Event: Kalkiism
It Will Start In Nepal: Shankaracharya
नया जातीय व्यवस्था
Kathmandu Talk Program: Moneyless Society: 22 September
प्रत्येक धर्म को भगवान कल्कि का इंतजार
अधर्म से धर्म की ओर: हिन्दु राष्ट्र
Kali Yug Ke Ant Ka Shankhnaad Janakpur Se
Kalkiist Manifesto: The Book Is Out In India
हमेशा के लिए समाधान की जरूरत
All My Blog Posts Lead To The Kalkiist Manifesto
हरे कल्कि
"तुम मुझे सच्चा ब्राह्मण दो, मैं तुम्हें हिंदु राष्ट्र दुंगा।" - जय साह
Benefits Of Cashless/Moneyless Economy
धर्म निरपेक्षता का इतिहास और वर्तमान
हम नगर जगाने आए हैं
Arrow In Belly
Sudhanshu Trivedi: When Lord Ramas' Birth Chart Was Inserted Into NASA Software (राम भगवान की जन्म कुंडली)
प्रश्न: क्या आप मांस खाने वाले पुजारी को पुजा करने की अनुमति देते हैं?
50 Implications Of The Kalkiist Manifesto
"तुम मुझे असली ब्राह्मण दो, मैं तुम्हें वैदिक अखंड भारत दूुंगा।"
The End Of The Kali Yuga Is Near
The Four Ages
भविष्य पुराण ५,००० साल पुरानी ग्रन्थ
सत्य युग समाज पार्टी नेपाल की अगली चुनाव क्लीन स्वीप करेगी
जय साह उवाच
नमशैतान महाअभियान
Madhesi Picnic, Philadelphia
The Karma Manifesto

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

कल्किवादी मेनिफेस्टो समझनेका सबसे आसान तरिका भगवान कल्कि के परिचयको समझना