Posts by fulltimestudent

1

Chinese National Day

by fulltimestudent in

october 1 is the found day for the "people's republic of china.".

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i've been exchanging greetings with friends in china, and i've shared this jacky chan song with them for the 2014 national day.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjrdqccbfzo.

fulltimestudent

October 1 is the found day for the "People's Republic of China."

I've been exchanging greetings with friends in China, and I've shared this Jacky Chan song with them for the 2014 National day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJRDqCCbFZo

1

Iran to be re-instated and no longer shunned.

by fulltimestudent in

from the time the isis crisis hit western consciousness, i started wondering two things.. first, how had these people, part of the west's rag-tag band of proxy fighters against the syrian government, become so skilful in a military sense.

syria has a reasonable military (for that sort of country) but not remarkable.

the isis force had not been winning many battles in that country, so why were they doing so well in iraq.. i soon found the answer.

fulltimestudent

From the time the ISIS crisis hit western consciousness, I started wondering two things.

First, how had these people, part of the west's rag-tag band of proxy fighters against the Syrian government, become so skilful in a military sense. Syria has a reasonable military (for that sort of country) but not remarkable. The ISIS force had not been winning many battles in that country, so why were they doing so well in Iraq.

I soon found the answer. The Sunni forces, formerly part of the Saddam Hussein political grouping, and dispossessed from political power were supporting ISIS forces, in an attempt to regain their lost influence.

That support included the defeated (I'm not sure that's the right word) military staff and many of the soldiers of Saddam's former Army (see, ghosts can fight-grin).

Second: As, I tried to research further, I found trickles of news that the Iranian military was already fighting ISIS in Iraq. Now, I thought that's important news, but there's hardly any mention of that fact in western news, which at present is mainly about how wonderful western leaders are in stepping up to their responsibilities to humanity (sarcastic laughter). The fact that most of them were losing popular political support, doesn't get much mention either.

Why, I thought, is the Iranian involvement NOT being mentioned. The answer was obvious. The west had long been shunning Iran, so you couldn't even name the name, so naturally western newspapers wouldn't talk about the Iranian involvement. Yet is also clear that if the failed western re-construction of Iraq is to be salvaged in any reasonable degree, the west needed all the help it could get.

So why am I still surprised at how quickly the political landscape can change.

One of my favourite sources, for what's really happening in the world, former Indian diplomat, M.K.Bhadrakumar* backgrounds Iran's reinstatement in this post (I've left the links live, in case anyone wants to follow through):

Iran offers to be West’s natural ally

The overwhelming majority with which the House of Commons in London passed a few hours earlier the resolution endorsing the government’s proposal to join the US-led military strikes against the Islamic State in Iraq catapults Prime Minister David Cameron to a pivotal role in President Barack Obama’s strategy. With Britain by its side, US doesn’t need the ramshackle “coalition of the willing”, while without Britain, even six Saudi Arabias within that coalition wouldn’t have meant much.
Cameron has begun preparing himself already. His meeting on Wednesday in New York with the Iranian president Hassan Rouhani (just before the House of Commons vote) was symbolic insofar as it has been the first such meeting since the 1979 Islamic revolution, but London wouldn’t have made such a historic move except with the foreknowledge that Iran’s integration with the international community is imminent. Indeed, the facade of the P5+Germany process has been torn asunder and Washington and select European allies are directly negotiating with Tehran, marginalizing any role for Russia. The US-Iranian consultations have intensified and the Iranian statements also point in the direction of a real possibility of a nuclear deal emerging by the end-November deadline. As I wrote earlier, the two tracks — Iran’s role in the US-led fight against the Islamic State and the nucelar talks — are running neck-and-neck. All pretensions to the contrary — that the two tracks are not interlinked — have been cast aside. In an extraordinary speech at the UN General Assembly on Thursday (the day after the Cameron-Rouhani meeting), the Iranian president came out openly that a nuclear deal will open up infinite possibilities of cooperation between the West and Iran across the board. Rouhani’s plea was two-fold: a) West should realize that Iran is its only “natural ally” in the Middle East; and, b) If the nuclear problem can be resolved, that enables Iran to work with the West in creating a New Middle East. Most certainly, Washington and London would regard this as the nearest that Iran has come to signal that it is willing to help in a political transition in Syria just as it helped the transition in Iraq, which has met with Obama’s full satisfaction.

Source: http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2014/09/26/iran-offers-to-be-wests-natural-ally/ -------------

*M.K.Bhadrakumar served in the Indian Foreign Service for three decades and served as ambassador to Uzbekistan and Turkey. Apart from two postings in the former Soviet Union, his assignments abroad included South Korea, Sri Lanka, West Germany, Kuwait, Pakistan and Afghanistan. He served thrice in the Iran-Pakistan-Afghanistan Division in the Ministry of External Affairs, including as the Head of the Division in 1992-95. Mr. Bhadrakumar sought voluntary retirement from the IFS in 2002 and has since devoted himself to writing.

17

Russia and China to Build a Huge New Port south of Vladivostock

by fulltimestudent in

from: business insider, australia.

beijing (afp) china and russia will build one of the largest ports in northeast asia on russias sea of japan coast, reports said, in a further sign of the powerhouses growing alliance.. the seaport is expected to be able to handle some 60 million tonnes of cargo a year, chinas state-run peoples daily online reported late wednesday comparable to britains busiest port immingham or le havre in france, according to european commission statistics.. the new facility will be located in far eastern russia, just 18 kilometres (11 miles) away from the chinese border.

the region is also close to north korea.. chinese and russian leaders inked a deal on the port at mays conference on interaction and confidence building measures in asia (cica) in shanghai, the report said.. the move represents the latest step by beijing and moscow to boost their energy and infrastructure ties.. resource-hungry china is seeking to diversify its sources of energy amid booming domestic consumption, while russia at odds with the west over its annexation of ukraines crimea peninsula is seeking to refocus its gas and oil exports towards asia.. the same report spoke of the commencement of construction of the gas pipeline from yakutsk to china.

fulltimestudent

Another area where Chinese skills in transport are being used for a positive benefit to the general population, is the Iranian city of Tehran.

You would never know from the general information disseminated by the tame-cat western press, but Tehran is one of west Asia's largest cities with a central population of over 8 million and a wider population of 14 million., covering some 600 sq/km. Tehran is a modern city, in a country with a long history, that fought the eastern Roman empire to the point where both were exhausted, and in Iran's case then fell an easy victim to militant Islam.

Its a beautiful country, in this image you catch a glimpse, not just of the modernity of Tehran, but of the beautiful geographical setting in which the city is located.

You can imagine that a city of that size and complexity is going to have transport problems. Where could they find assistance to build the kind of modern public transport system that a modern city requires to function?

For many years Iran has been sanctioned (shunned) by the west at the USA's behest. Why?

For the answer, we have to go back to the early 1950's and the then Prime Minister, a Dr Mossadegh. Mossadegh was Prime Minister in an elected government and a nationalist who loved his country. He was not an extremist. For years Iranians had chafed at the failure of the British controlled Anglo-Persian Oil Company to properly develop the oil industry. So in 1953, the National Parliament in a near total consensus, voted to nationalise the oil Industry.

This upset the British who were very dependent on Iranian oil at that time. The British M16 secret service and the CIA conspired with a retired Iranian General to lead a coup against the elected government.

This wikepedia entry gives more detail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat#U.S._role

Popular dissatisfaction with the ensuing governments eventually led to a popular revolution and the current government controlled by Islamic Iman, something in my opinion, that could have been avoided, if the legitimate rights of the Mossadegh government had been respected by the UK and the USA. The political landscape of west Asia would be far different now if Mossadegh had not been removed by the Anglo-American inspired coup.

But western meddling did not stop at that point. After the Islamic revolution, the USA worked with their then man in Iraq, Saddam Hussein (True) as their proxy to fight a six year war with Iran.

Do you begin to see why the west is detested in western Asia, and why it is such a mess, today?

All of which, has not much to do with the transport needs of Tehran, except that it explains that one of the few places that the Iranian government could turn (because of western shunning -i.e. sanctions) with the technical expertise and experience, was China.

In 1985, the Iranian Parliament approved the construction of Tehran Metro which was formally begun a year later. In March 1995, China's CITIC Group signed a contract with Tehran Urban and Suburban Railway to construct line one and line two of the Tehran Metro. In 2001, the first metro constructed by Chinese companies was completed. A factory was established in Tehran to construct some carriages, with the rest being supplied by a Chinese factory in Changchun.

Today, there are five operational subway lines, with a total length of about 150 kilometers and around 110 underground stations. And the number of platforms underground is nearly 110.

Let's catch a subway train in Tehran:

1. Walk through the underground shopping centre to ther station:

2. Buy a ticket at the automatic dispensers:

3. Wait for the train:

4. Board:

5. Off to our destination:

The life of the man-in-the-street in Tehran, is not much different to our own lives.

22

My Lecturer booby-trapped me - Patterns of Authority in Early Christian Communities

by fulltimestudent in

i have a 2500 word essay due next tuesday, so i shall be invoiced until then.

and, i already have been turned upside down.. even though there are set topics for the main essay, it is possible to negotiate for an essay on a subject of personal interest.

i'd been thinking about the development of leadership in the early christian congregation, so i asked my lecturer, if i could write on that.. he asked me for a brief outline of what i was thinking, so i reviewed my early thoughts - that jesus primarily had left no clear instructions (because he was expecting divine intervention and the restoration of the kingdom), but he had trained his disciples in missionary work - which i interpreted to mean that jesus expected his own ministry to continue, to provide the judean people with continued guidance, modelled on what he (jesus) had done.. but as christianity developed (and the expectations of jesus remained unfulfilled) a different model developed and i wanted to explore the model we see developing in the nt (think pauline) and where that model came from and then transformed into the monarchial model with bishops.. .

fulltimestudent

Cofty- I would be very interested to learn more.

Some heavy reading there mate, but you may be surprised. Now, Im also wondering, why didn't Freddy see the above? If I'm not too embarrassed by my final essay, I may post it FYI.

22

My Lecturer booby-trapped me - Patterns of Authority in Early Christian Communities

by fulltimestudent in

i have a 2500 word essay due next tuesday, so i shall be invoiced until then.

and, i already have been turned upside down.. even though there are set topics for the main essay, it is possible to negotiate for an essay on a subject of personal interest.

i'd been thinking about the development of leadership in the early christian congregation, so i asked my lecturer, if i could write on that.. he asked me for a brief outline of what i was thinking, so i reviewed my early thoughts - that jesus primarily had left no clear instructions (because he was expecting divine intervention and the restoration of the kingdom), but he had trained his disciples in missionary work - which i interpreted to mean that jesus expected his own ministry to continue, to provide the judean people with continued guidance, modelled on what he (jesus) had done.. but as christianity developed (and the expectations of jesus remained unfulfilled) a different model developed and i wanted to explore the model we see developing in the nt (think pauline) and where that model came from and then transformed into the monarchial model with bishops.. .

fulltimestudent

Set readings for my essay (only read if it interests you).

Patterns of Authority In Early Christian Communities.

Compare and contrast the various patterns of authority in (a) the Pauline churches of the "congregational letters", (b) the "Pastoral Letters" (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus), (c) the Didache and (d) the seven genuine letters of Ignatius.

Feel free to suggest modifications. In the meantime here are places to start your reading:

Paul's "congregational letters":
J.D.G. Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit, London, 1975, sections 47-49.
- "The Responsible Congregation (1 Corinthians 14:26-40)", (in Charisma und Agape (1 Ko. 10-14), ed. L. De Lorenzi (Rome, 1983), 201-236, now reprinted in The Christ and the Spirit, vol. 2, Pneumatology (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1998), 260-290: attached as a PDF)
B. Holmberg, Paul and Power: the structure of authority in the primitive church as reflected in the Pauline Epistles, Philadelphia, 1980
W.A. Meeks, The First Urban Christians, New Haven, 1983 (2nd edition 2003), chs. 3-5.
R.J. Banks, Paul's Idea of Community, Sydney, 1979 (revised edition, 1994),
M. MacDonald, The Pauline Churches: a socio-historical study of institutionalization in the Pauline and Deutero-Pauline writings, Cambridge, 1988

The "Pastoral Letters"

M. MacDonald, above.

Commentaries on the three letters

M. Harding, "The Pastoral Epistles", in M. Harding & A. Nobbs, eds., All Things to All Cultures: Paul among Jews, Greeks, and Romans, Grand Rapids, 2013.

J.D.G. Dunn, Unity and Diversity in the New Testament, 3rd ed., 2006, sections 29-30.

D. Horrell, "Leadership Patterns and the Development of Ideology in Early Christianity", Sociology of Religion 58.4, 1997, 323-341.

The Didache:

See the bibliography in the main Unit Booklet, p. 59, esp.
J.A. Draper, “The Apostolic Fathers: the Didache”, Exp.T. 117.5, 2006, 177-181.
J.A. Draper, “Torah and Troublesome Apostles in the Didache Community”, Nov.T. 33.4, 1991, 347ff.,
A. Milavec, “Distinguishing True and False Prophets: The Protective Wisdom of the Didache,” J.E.C.S. 2, 1994, 117-136,
J.A. Draper, “Weber, Theissen, and ‘Wandering Charismatics’ in the Didache”, J.E.C.S. 6.4, 1998, 541-576

Ignatius of Antioch:

See the bibliography in the main Unit Booklet, p. 55, esp.
P. Foster, “The Epistles of Ignatius of Antioch (Part 1)”, Exp.T. 117.12, 2006, 487-495, and “The Epistles of Ignatius of Antioch (Part 2)”, Exp.T. 118.1, 2006, 2-11.
H.O. Maier, “The Charismatic Authority of Ignatius of Antioch: a sociological analysis”, S.R. 18.2, 1989, 185-199
A. Pettersen, “The Laity – Bishop’s Pawn?”, S.J.Th. 44, 1991, 39-56,
H.O. Maier, The Social Setting of the Ministry as reflected in the writings of Hermas, Clement, and Ignatius, Ontario, Toronto, 1991,
A. Brent, “The Ignatian Epistles and the Threefold Ecclesiatical Order”, Journal of Religious History 17.1, 1992, 18-32

I'm only half way through the readings (SO I've got to get down to some hard reading), and some of the books are out on loan at MU Library, so I've got to run around other libraries. So I'd better not even visit here for a week.

22

My Lecturer booby-trapped me - Patterns of Authority in Early Christian Communities

by fulltimestudent in

i have a 2500 word essay due next tuesday, so i shall be invoiced until then.

and, i already have been turned upside down.. even though there are set topics for the main essay, it is possible to negotiate for an essay on a subject of personal interest.

i'd been thinking about the development of leadership in the early christian congregation, so i asked my lecturer, if i could write on that.. he asked me for a brief outline of what i was thinking, so i reviewed my early thoughts - that jesus primarily had left no clear instructions (because he was expecting divine intervention and the restoration of the kingdom), but he had trained his disciples in missionary work - which i interpreted to mean that jesus expected his own ministry to continue, to provide the judean people with continued guidance, modelled on what he (jesus) had done.. but as christianity developed (and the expectations of jesus remained unfulfilled) a different model developed and i wanted to explore the model we see developing in the nt (think pauline) and where that model came from and then transformed into the monarchial model with bishops.. .

fulltimestudent

I have a 2500 word essay due next Tuesday, so I shall be unvoiced until then. And, I already have been turned upside down.

Even though there are set topics for the main essay, it is possible to negotiate for an essay on a subject of personal interest. I'd been thinking about the development of leadership in the early Christian congregation, so I asked my lecturer, if I could write on that.

He asked me for a brief outline of what I was thinking, so I reviewed my early thoughts - that Jesus primarily had left no clear instructions (because he was expecting divine intervention and the restoration of the Kingdom), but he had trained his disciples in missionary work - which I interpreted to mean that Jesus expected his own ministry to continue, to provide the Judean people with continued guidance, modelled on what he (Jesus) had done.

But as Christianity developed (and the expectations of Jesus remained unfulfilled) a different model developed and I wanted to explore the model we see developing in the NT (think Pauline) and where that model came from and then transformed into the monarchial model with Bishops.

"Hmmm," was his reply - "that's OK, but I've got to be able to mark this, so it has to be based on existing scholarship, so I'll provide some readings for you to consider."

Which he did, and I've been reading (I'll post that separately for those who may be interested) and found what I'm calling 'his boobytrap.' Consensus scholarship essentially sees Jesus as a wandering, charismatic, (And, I've no problem with that. The Buddha ( Siddhārtha Gautama) is described in a similar way as a 'shramanic' - look it up!) and that his training for his disciples was based on that.

And the earliest form of Christianity is firmly based on that model. So what happened? I've got to say that the evidence is right there in the NT, as if we read carefully, we see the developing tensions between resident based Christians and the itinerants, who continued in the Jesus tradition. I've found that the rules for overseers (Timothy and Titus) were based on existing Roman traditions called 'household codes.'

So when I was asking him for permission, he (of course) knew all the argument in existing scholarship, and set a IED for my mind. I am impressed.

7

Great action Piks- Getting the Jump on Your Lunch

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

.

two frames together - in the first we see the leopard picking his mark and commencing his jump in the second frame.

.

fulltimestudent

In another news item, an older tiger gets into a pen with two younger tigers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u51I1ZQ5j4s

The interesting aspect of this incident is not the fight to the death between the older and younger tigers, that's just tiger behaviour. The interesting view of this fight is the perspective provided by the NT at 2 Peter 2:12, which, is usually interpreted as indicating that animal behaviour is governed by divinely implanted instinct.

From that perspective the Yahweh/Jesus creative team (Proverbs Ch 8 ) implanted into the tiger mind, the behaviour demonstrated in the video. Hencei can be argued, Yahweh/Jesus always intended Tigers to engage in territorial fights. Their teeth, claws and aggression was meant for killing.

As a sidepoint, the fight to the death was observed by school children, who were on a visit to the zoo. Some had to receive counselling. Is there where western thinking has led us - children have to be protected from the knowledge that life is about fighting for survival?

http://www.9news.com.au/world/2014/09/29/10/06/students-film-tigers-fighting-to-the-deat-on-school-zoo-trip

16

was noah under the law of moses? huh?

by sowhatnow in

im confused, a poster for the whole mamoth elephants and ark deal going on, with a gizillion pages, .

quoted genesis ch 7 about him bringing 7 clean animals.

and only two unclean, well i thought it wasnt till moses came along that all these requirements were done, so noah was under the law too?.

fulltimestudent

You've fingered one of the problems in Genesis. That book is clearly a redacted work, the author(s) possibly attempting to synthesise one account out of various written or oral accounts.

In Ch. 7 the author(s) imagine Yahweh, who categorises animals as being either clean or unclean, instructing Noah to take seven clean and only two unclean. The author(s) cannot visualise a world where all animals are the same, and has to see them as being in one of the two categories.

That should make it clear to the reader that the document we know as Genesis was composed long after the Law of Moses.

52

Are first world countries to blame for the bulk of third world squalor?

by tootired2care in

throughout several past threads various posters have emphatically made the point that countries like great britian, united states, france etc.

basically countries where white people exist, are to blame for the poverty in many other third world nations.

some have even went so far as to suggest that the first world is to blame for all third world conditions.. i often see excuses such as these for why a country refuses to provide clean water, some food and basic sanitation for its people:.

fulltimestudent

Fulltimestudent:

There are multiple factors involved in poverty.

For example: Consider the role that a disciplined elite may play in a given society. As another poster has observed elites can play a negative role, and it may take time for an elite class to change from a negative role to a positive role. In English history, if we consider the change started with the Magna Carta, how long did it take to extend the rights of the elite to the wider population?

Hold that thought for a moment, and consider the impact of European Imperialism on the development of the elite groups in any given African society. The first stage of the impact is likely to have been the destruction of a wide section of the existing elite as they resisted the European invasion. The European invasion was different to other historical invasions, where the conquerors went on to form a new elite class. In the nineteenth century examples the European power sent out administrators, who typically served their time and went home along with any wealth they managed to accumulate, often large enough to give them some additional privileges in their home nation.

Although, we can imagine there would be some formation of a local, native elite it could not develop to maturity, but would remain subservient to the European conquerors.

Further factors that could be considered include the role of wealth accumulation. The whole goal of the European conquerors would be to strip the conquered area of accumulated wealth and apply it to their own home territories. Considering the poverty of the home working classes in the 19th century, a poverty so deep that the concept of socialism/communism became attractive to the working classes, the stripped wealth was the means for European nations to edge up the economic ladder.

You could also, as a factor, include consideration of the role of superstition. Just a general note on this point. Religious superstition must, in either a negative or positive role have been a factor in the European ascent. Is there a difference in the superstitious beliefs of Eastern Europe (including Russia) and Western Europe that could explain the differences between the two areas.

Those brief thoughts require a lot expansion before you could reach conclusions, but its my attempt to demonstrate the complexity of the problem of African poverty.

But one unassailable fact should be taken into consideration - for most of human history, the bulk (80-90%) of people were peasant farmers. Government taxation and agrarian landlords were factors to be ccnsidered in the well-being (or not) of peasant farmers.

The climb to prosperity is not well understood, perhaps because a large population of middle class people is a fairly recent phenomenon.

Clearly, industrialisation played a part in the prosperity attributable to western modernity. However, poverty was still a feature of working class life until the age of social revolution in the early 20th century. (Think of the labour unrest in the USA, in the late 19th and the first half of the 20th C).

7

Great action Piks- Getting the Jump on Your Lunch

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

.

two frames together - in the first we see the leopard picking his mark and commencing his jump in the second frame.

.

fulltimestudent

So marvel at the efficient killing machine created by the creative works design studio of the Yahweh/Jesus combo divinity.

As Psalm 104 (NIV) notes:

24 How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number-- living things both large and small ...

27 These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time.

28 When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.

And everyone is happy - except the poor bloody antelope!

Images from ChinaDaily - http://english.people.com.cn/n/2014/0927/c90782-8788612-7.html