Interesting article on Obama's evolution of "I". read it.

Snow leopard (mac osx)

Hot dang! the new Mac osx is only 29 bones to upgrade with an instant 6 gb of space freed up. Hope my software works with it. Consequently, when was the last time Micro$oft sold any software for 30 dollars?

listen to this

Scot McKnight's take on the gospel.  Consequently, what I have been feeling more and more.  have a listen if you have time.

Obama's speech

A few undeveloped thoughts on Obama's speech in Cairo:

4.3 billion/year to Pakistan to develop infrastructure.  80 Billion a year would solve world hunger, water, and basic education and healthcare

Re:  Israel:  Obama has an accurate understanding of the motivations for both palestinians and Israelis "having claim" but who is he to talk when his nation is founded on the basis of pushing out native americans?  also historically ignorant (not uninformed, just ignoring) of the various attempts over the past forty years to bring peace and compromise.  What about the Jews who get rockets shot into their backyard?  

A two state solution has been tried and found wanting because ultimately the arab world does not want two states.  Simply because Barak Obama is asking for the palestinians to not be violent won't change their actions.  Clinton asked the same thing, as did both bush's and reagan.  Through the eyes of a palestinian, any compromise is a win for them.  If you doubt this, go visit israel and see the racism on both sides of the aisle that influences everything.  I agree that violence is not the answer, though.

If every people group gets their own nation simply because they have lived there, what happens to the soviet block?  Giving groups their own space does not solve the cycle of violence.  cf congo.  Instead, it promotes individualism, division, and racism.  Again, walk from the arab quarter to the jewish quarter to the christian quarter to the armenian quarter in Jerusalem.  

On indonesia and tolerance:  maybe as a boy Christians were allowed to worship freely.  Today indonesia is the home of one the most persecuted branches of the church.

Kudos on women's rights.

For saying that the west is a negative influence, he sure wants the middle east to become like us.

We need a distinction between tolerance and unitarianism.  differentiation is vital to a healthy freedom of religion.  There's a difference between not treading on someone, and forcing everyone to be the same.

Final point:  our hopes shouldn't, can't, and will not succeed if they are placed in a political power.  Pretty speeches and warm welcomes will not change the world.  Our only hope is through actual people denying themselves, taking up their cross, and choosing to love their enemies.  Not in a political sense, but in a way that allows us to eat at the same table, to touch lepers, to be invested in the lives of each other.  One by one, relationship by relationship.  The rest is just window dressing.  It begins with you.  It begins with me.  Representatives are not enough.

Overall I have supported the obama administration's foreign policy thus far.  This, however, is not a "new tone" because every president has used the same rhetoric more or less since these conflicts have arisen.  For some reason we simply assume Obama is different because we associate his name with hope and change.  In reality, this is very similar to what every other president has said.

Quote of the day

"I think about it while I’m writing my book, for one thing. If there is any underlying reason why I’m writing the book, it’s that I think the church today needs to rediscover “mere Christianity” as opposed to “cool Christianity” or “jazzy Christianity” or “online Christianity” (or whatever other conflated, stylized “Christianity” you can think of). I think we’ve become obsessed with the form and presentation of the Gospel while forsaking its substance (or divorcing substance from form, which is equally problematic). And I think a good dose of “mere Christian” back-to-basics and unity-mindedness could do us some good."  From the search

My prayers go out for this book.