NEW LIGHT ON THE JESUS STORY!

The New York Times published a story “Ancient Tablet Ignites Debate On Messiah and Resurrection” by Ethan Bronner, July 6.

It is about an ancient stone tablet with Hebrew writing in ink. It dates to the first century B.C. and was found around the Dead Sea (Dead Sea Scrolls).

It is the first record ever found of the concept of a “suffering messiah” that died and then rose from the dead after three (3) days – sound familiar.

The fact that this tablet pre-dates Jesus and the Gospels is significant. The fact that it concerns the political issue of the times which was to free Israel from the Roman yoke is also significant in that the Messiah described here, died and rose again specifically to bring redemption to Israel; he did not shed his blood for the sins of the world.

I guess what scholars are getting at is that the very idea of a suffering Messiah who rose from the dead after three (3) days is not unique to the Jesus story but was around in general Jewish lore. The thinking now could point to Jesus and his followers adopting a popular motif found in Jewish writings.

In the past our view of a “Jewish Messiah” was as a triumphal, powerful, military type descendant of King David and never a Messiah that suffered and died. In fact, the tablet indicates that for the salvation of Israel, a Messiah will have to die and arise after three (3) days and only then will Israel be free.

You can see where it’s possible for Jesus to have seen himself as The Messiah, convinced his followers of that fact and went ahead and had himself tortured and killed for the salvation of Israel. Crazy St. Paul twisted the events to fit his own shtick which was that Jesus was the Messiah, died at the hands of the Romans and in fact did rise from the dead BUT not to free Israel but to wipe away the sins of the world – what a bizarre concept.

This may be the find that puts two and two together. I have always wondered why Jesus’ Apostles never bought into St. Paul’s teachings and continued to wait for Jesus to come indicating that he did not arise from the dead after three (3) days or ever in their own time as the Gospel story has it.

I have always thought that more evidence about that period in history is yet to be found and here it is. Actually, the stone tablet was found some time ago but the owner did not know what he had. Expect a lot of hubbub about this in the months to come and I will be following this very carefully and with subdued excitement!

JESSE JACKSON NEEDS TO GO AWAY!

So Jesse Jackson wants to cut Obama’s nuts off!

What prompted such an outburst? Well, it appears that Obama made some speeches to black audiences where he called on black men to take responsibility for the children they sire and for blacks in general to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and escape poverty and crime.

Jackson said that Obama was “talking down” to black people when he urged and challenged them to do better for themselves.

Jackson is all about blaming the white man for all the troubles visited on black people. Jackson is all about keeping his hand out demanding that the white man pay for his racist past with guilt money (reparations); he asks nothing of black people because after all they are the victims and can’t help themselves.

Bill Cosby has led this fight for some time now by urging parents to take responsibility for their kids. Jackson probably wants to cut his nuts off too.

Jackson is a has-been. He has failed as a black leader because he has not led his people anywhere. He himself fathered an illegitimate child so he could not even lead by example.

He is jealous of Obama because he is a great example of how far blacks can go and also that Obama is stealing his thunder by telling blacks they are not victims, are not inferior and yes, they can better their lot in life by action and not waiting for a handout from the guilt ridden white man.

Jesse Jackson needs to fade into the woodwork!

THE SURGE IS NOT WORKING!

John McCain continues to hammer away at Barak Obama and his opposition to the Iraq War. He points out that the “Surge” is working and if we would have pulled out when Obama wanted to, disaster would have befallen all of us.

Barak needs to keep reminding McCain and the voting public that the war on Iraq was a terrible, terrible mistake, a blunder that cost thousands of lives and continues to cost lives on a daily basis and did not even make a dent in the “Al-Qaeda Terrorist” ranks because THEY WERE NOT IN IRAQ, THEY WERE AND ARE IN AFGHANISTAN.

McCain points at the success of the “surge” and Obama needs to keep telling him that the “surge” did not work and is not working because even though violence is down, no progress on the political front in Iraq has been made and therefore nothing has changed.

Observers on the ground in Iraq say that it is not the American “surge” that is responsible for curtailing sectarian violence but the Iraqi people themselves who have had enough slaughter and are now controlling the various militias.

Barack needs to focus on Afghanistan as the center of terrorism and the importance of that war for everyone concerned and how, if Bush took care of Afghanistan in the beginning instead of committing all our military resources to an ill-advised war on Iraq, we would not be in the situation we are in now. Since McCain backed Bush, blame McCain for the current untenable situation in Afghanistan and keep painting Iraq as a blunder that now needs to be fixed and it cannot be fixed by the same people that made the blunder; that would be illogical and stupid.

THE DETROIT NEWS EDITS TOO MUCH!

Below this blog, you will see the letter I wrote to the Detroit News about the stinkin’ unions trying to pass legislation with the help of their Democratic cohorts that is intended to make it virtually impossible for employees to vote against unionization.

The legislation will outlaw, secret ballot voting by the employees in favor of having a union THUG standing at the factory gate with a clip board and saying “sign or I will break your legs” and this piece of legislation is called THE FREE CHOICE ACT.

I admonished the Detroit News for allowing a labor figure to write a column spouting all sorts of union bullshit but not allowing a dissenting column in the same space or opposite the labor piece.

The Detroit News is not known to be liberal but for some reason, they would not publish my entire letter but emasculated it by publishing only the middle of the letter which does not mention the paper or the words “union drivel” and “union propaganda”.

I realize that the paper does not want to publish offending letters that use words inappropriate for a family paper BUT to block out criticism of the paper, block out “strong” anti-union language is unfair and a form of censorship.

What is the point of publishing letters to the editor if the paper will not allow honest, maybe brutally honest, dialog to occur.

If you allow a union official to state his case you have to allow a rebuttal otherwise people ignorant of the facts, will accept union lies as truths. The Detroit News, in publishing those lies without rebuttal are complicit in propagating the union line and to me that is HIGHLY UNETHICAL.

The Detroit news may counter that they DID publish my letter, just heavily edited and my point was conveyed BUT my small, tiny letter does to carry the weight and authority of a full column or the timing of an “opposing” column published at the same time.

I say shame on the Detroit News.

AUTO COMPANIES PAYING FOR THEIR STUPIDITY

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

To: The Detroit Free Press
Re: “This is a knife stab in the back”, July 16.

I was perplexed in reading “This is a stab in the back”, July 16, about retired GM white collar workers over the age of 65, losing their health benefits and “wondering about what they’d do next for health care”.

What about doing what other 65 year olds are doing for health care in the United States; Medicare. GM is increasing monthly pension checks by $300 so the retirees can upgrade to Medicare Plus benefits from local HMOs.

One of the reasons the auto companies are in such bad fiscal shape is the unwise and wasteful way they handled healthcare benefits for their retirees over 65; offering them expensive coverage when Medicare already covered them.

UNIONIST DRIVEL - Must be challenged!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

To: The Detroit News
Re: “Make it easier to form union”, July 11.

The News has a columns section where two sides to an issue are presented. Why does the News not have an opposing view with the Labor Voices column? This omission allows unionists like James Hoffa to spot their unionist drivel without immediate challenge.

The Employee Free Choice Act is anything but. Hoffa wants to throw out secret ballot elections by workers of whether to unionize or not and replace them with a “card checks” program where union thugs can intimidate workers into signing a union card. Once a majority of workers sign, the union is in. Private ballot elections are a fundamental right in our American Democracy but because the union usually fails in such elections; it wants to go to a method where they can make sure they won’t fail – where is the outrage!

The News is doing the Michigan community and economy a disservice by allowing union propaganda to stand alone and go un-challenged on the same page; letters to the editor do not carry the same weight and immediacy of response as an opposing column would.

BLACK DETROIT NEEDS TO ACT

If you live in Michigan, you know what is going on in Detroit. Actually, I have been seeing that Detroit’s problems have been reported on a national level and maybe even on an international level.

The fact that Detroit is populated by African-Americans and run by African-Americans who are responsible for what some are calling the “collapse” of Detroit, brings up some interesting commentary.

In today’s Detroit Free Press, Stephen Henderson, a black columnist writing in the “People & Politics” corner, addressed the subject kind of in-directly, “Detroit officials provide sickening fodder for racists”, July 6.

He acknowledged that the Detroit School Board, City Council and the mayor of Detroit are embroiled in corruption and mismanagement scandals that Henderson calls “just horrible”.

He says the problem with these “miscreants” is not that they are black but because they are just “bad & incompetent” people and they need to go and I agree with him wholeheartedly.

Henderson also calls for Detroiters “black or white” to come to the aid of the city by taking leadership roles and reversing the calamity that is currently unfolding. This is the first time I have read where the possibility of a “white” candidate for elected office or a city job was suggested - interesting!

He also said that those doing such a disservice to the city are trashing the work of those blacks who have for decades fought to get blacks the opportunity to shape their city’s fortunes.
I agree with Mr. Henderson that saying that the city is in such chaos is because blacks don’t know how to run things is racist, illogical and un-factual, BUT I will remind him that a certain black “culture” in the city of Detroit contributed to the city’s downfall.

The “culture” that I am talking about started out in a logical fashion; a black city should have black leaders. Another city near Detroit called Hamtramck, was all Polish and all community leaders were Polish as were most of the city workers.

The first black mayor of Detroit, Coleman Young, was a strong leader. He ran the city for 20 years and did many good things for the city even though he was disliked outside of the city for his confrontational politics which were, in some cases, downright racist. He created a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy in the city based on skin color and loyalty (sometimes called nepotism) but never on competency and this is how the bad seed was planted that would grow to harm the city.

Elected offices would go to people that would then bring in their friends and relatives or at least made sure that friends and relatives prospered on their watch; the city be damned. The current mayor has his whole family on the payroll including his high school chums, etc.

Sadly, this culture also engulfed the school board where children did not have text books but lucrative contracts went out to associates with no recognizable benefit to the students. This is the case today with millions of dollars unaccounted for.

Democratic presidents heaped millions in federal funds on Detroit. When those funds disappeared without anything to show for their use, the feds kept quiet not wanting to appear racist. I remember writing a letter to the editor where I stated that federal funds were disappearing into a big black whole; the letter was published without “big black hole”.

The Detroit City Council is under a federal investigation for corruption; taking bribes caught on video.

The mayor caught on tape lying in court and using city money for everything but city business is gathering a war chest for his defense by promising businesses lucrative city contracts for donations to his defense fund. Resign? Why should he, he will be re-elected again because he is perceived as the man that stuck it to the man and got away with it - just what the city needs.

We had a black mayor that was a former judge (Archer) and by all accounts, a good, decent and honest man. Well he could not fight the “bureaucracy” so entrenched in the city; he could not function and institute reforms he wanted and I guess he just did not have big enough balls to throw the incompetents out.

Yes, some in the city are up in arms. The newspapers are editorializing like mad, they are also suing the mayor, et. al. to get their hands on incriminating evidence the mayor’s lawyers are trying to protect. The County Prosecutor who is black and female is being thwarted in her attempts to recuse the mostly black judiciary from the case against the mayor because most if not all the judges have some connection to the mayor.

BUT many in the city support the mayor and would vote for him again and those include some of the leading Baptist ministers in the city who have strong influence in the community and probably need that entrenched bureaucracy to remain in power for some obviously selfish reason.

Mr. Henderson, in his article, is calling on all people who love Detroit to come to its rescue and become the leaders that will give Detroit a re-birth but who is going to elect these competent, honest people?

Mr. Henderson needs to address the black electorate in Detroit and ask them what the hell do they want to happen? Do they want to finally “destroy” the “culture” that is destroying the city and actually vote on competency, regardless family connections?

There are many competent blacks that can help run the city but they left the city for the suburbs a long time ago - or am I wrong?

There has recently been an influx of young professionals, black and white, back into the city, living in condos, apartments and lofts newly constructed or renovated in upscale parts of the city; could they be the saviors of the city? Will Detroiters give them that chance? More to come…

SPINNING PATRIOTISM AND THE MEDIA

The new political test is how patriotic are you and are you patriotic enough. TIME magazine’s lead story was all about “patriotism”; the liberal kind and the conservative kind; Obama kind and McCain kind.

I find the whole subject matter pretty silly but obviously, each candidate is taking it very seriously and spending a lot of time and money trying to show the electorate just how patriotic they really are.

I find this whole matter an insult to the intelligence of this country but I may be proven wrong since it appears to be a powerful subject and a vote getter. Obama has been doing ads where all he says is how proud he is of being an American. McCain just sits back and rests on the fact that he was a soldier and that to him means the ultimate patriotic position - I disagree.

Recently, General Wesley Clark was completely taken out of context (probably by FOX) and shown to be saying that flying over Vietnam, being shot down and imprisoned for five years does not give you the qualities and experience to be president.

He was not demeaning McCain’s military record, he was answering a question. He smartly went on all the networks to defend himself saying how much he respects McCain’s military sacrifice; he himself was shot four times and returned home on a stretcher. Clark was a captain commanding an infantry platoon.

What he was saying is that he went on from there to higher commands and decision making roles that made him valuable to the military and a bonus for political office (he wants to be vice-president).

The fact that he was attacked as unpatriotic for saying something he did not really say just pisses me off. The media is running this show and the candidates are using the media to mislead the public.

McCain was asked by a reporter (brave one at that) just how does his capture and imprisonment by the Vietcong makes him a better candidate for the presidency. He just grew indignant and refused to answer the question and that is what Wesley Clark was trying to say about what experiences make you better suited for the presidency.

This was total ACTING on McCain’s side, manipulating the media to reach the dumb shits that don’t know any better and think that being in the military somehow makes you more patriotic than the next guy - bullshit!

I was in the military and at 18 you don’t really know too much about patriotism especially when there is a draft in place. You think it is cool to shoot a gun and you absolutely never thought about actually being killed.

McCain is using his war record as a symbol of patriotism and I say that is only spinning the media to get to the dumb shits that buy into that - conservatives.

Obama reacted properly to the Clark debacle about patriotism by dismissing his comments BUT he probably lost a good vice presidential candidate because Clark was ousted by Bush for having too many brain cells and challenging Bush’s total military disaster in Iraq and in Afghanistan; Obama could absolutely use Clark as a counterweight to McCain’s actually lack of any military experience since he spent it in a prison being tortured - no disrespect intended!

I guess I am just getting pissed at both candidates and the media for screwing with the facts and spinning things totally out of context.

Is that the face of the new political reality; whatever it takes to win?

How do I know what a candidate really stands for if he kisses everybody’s ass? How do we know what the candidate really stands for? How do we know what he will do after he gets in office?

I don’t this is a good way to elect a president! I think all candidates should be hooked up to a lie detector and asked the same questions about vital issues and maybe then we can get a straight, honest answer!

Is Obama a religious nut case?

Watching the news tonight, I heard something that gave me a chill. The report talked about how Obama went to Ohio to talk to some Christian Evangelists and stated plain as day that he will continue, if not expand President Bush’s FAITH BASED CHARITIES PROGRAM which gives taxpayer money to charities that offer assistance to the needy while preaching their religion and in some cases refusing to offer aid unless they listen to the proselytizing session.,

To me this is UNCONSTITUTIONAL since the First Amendment clearly states that the government will not have anything to do with the “establishment of religion” which means our government will keep away from anything to do with religion.

This fact has been affirmed over and over again throughout our history.

President Bush chose to disregard our Constitution in this case as well as many other cases; he is just a person that believes he was sent by god to make the world right and no stinkin’ Constitution is going to stand in his way.

BUT Obama; what the hell is he thinking. Is he so desperate for the religious vote? What about the liberal religious side that is AGAINST the involvement of our government in religious affairs?

I am afraid the man is starting to make me nervous. He is departing from the Democratic style of keeping religion a PRIVATE matter (Hillary did also) and starting to sound like those fanatic religious twits that made Bush possible and look what damage that did to the country and the world.

If Obama is willing to go against the Constitution and against his principals, then I feel the man is capable of doing anything to get elected and that is making McCain look better to me because he had the nerve to stand in a union state (Ohio) and say that NAFTA is better for the country - so there! He also is not spouting religion at each stop.

Who in the hell is running Obama’s campaign - Karl Rove?