Historian 3

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

In the ancient cultures that Tom Holland so admired, "rights" belonged to winners of battles, to powerful masters, to the ruthless - not to the weak, suffering, powerless, deformed. The idea of "Human Rights" being inherent in all people is a modern idea. It developed over two thousand years of developing the Bible's concept that all human beings bear the image of God.

Christians have owned slaves, though, as recently as the 1800's in America's South. But the opposition which finally ended slavery in America came - also - through Christianity. Think of Dr. King's famous speech.

In the words of author and atheist Tom Holland: 

"So profound has been the impact of Christianity on the development of Western civilisation that it has come to be hidden from view . . . [I]n a West that is often doubtful of religion's claims, so many of its instincts remain . . thoroughly Christian.

"It is--to coin a phrase--the greatest story ever told."

photo

from Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World

Historian 2

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World tells its story from the point of view of an atheist who discovered to his surprise that modern, secular, humanistic values come from two thousand years of Christian history.

Roman society was all about rank and power. Conquering armies brought hordes of barbarians back to Rome to be slaves. Women ranked a notch above slaves, but a husband had the power to use the slaves, women and children of the house in any way he wished. In fact, it was his choice of whether to keep or throw away newborns. Babies could be discarded and abandoned on trash heaps. 

photo

Jesus Christ was born into that era, dying with criminals in tortuous crucifixion. That God would come to earth in human flesh to identify with suffering, powerless humanity was disgusting to the Romans. 

But those who chose to identify with Christ started changing society a little at a time. They rescued babies. They preached that marriage was sacred and wives must be loved as Christ loved the church. That slaves had souls.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Historian 1

Dinosaurs, Roman armies, Greek gods were much more interesting than the Christian God to Tom Holland as a boy in England. His faith faded away as he grew up and had no revival in adulthood. Today he's a historian and author.

He has modern, secular, humanistic values. But gradually he learned to his surprise that those values decidedly did not come from ancient Rome or Greece. And it went further. As a historian looking across hundreds of years, he found that modern, secular, humanistic values like his own . . . came from Christianity. 

Compassion for slaves, for the poor, for human suffering, made Christianity a stark contrast to ancient attitudes.

(cont'd tomorrow)

No past 1

Maybe you've heard that remark said to have come from a Russian under communism: "We know what the future is. It's the past that is always changing." You think (if you're rational) "that's impossible because what is past cannot change." 

You're right. But what is taught about the past can, and does, change . . when those holding power want a more supportive narrative or story to back up their claims. Are you okay with that?

Macy's going

Retail stores were struggling before 2020, and lockdowns aggravated that decline. Big department store Macy's has announced more closures and layoffs.

photo

Over the next three years, 125 stores will close. About 2,000 jobs will also have to go, in addition to the 3,900 cuts last summer. It doesn't make sense to keep underperforming stores going.

Shopping malls are going to look different when anchor stores like Macy's can't justify their presence. You probably remember that JC Penney, another anchor, filed for Chapter 11 a few years ag0. Will big malls continue to exist when anchors pull out?

from Good Housekeeping

A dream 2

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

Dr. King hoped his children would be judged by their character. What did he mean by that? He hoped they would develop integrity, goodness, virtues, and that they would earn the respect which we have for people who shape their lives this way.

photo

In 1964 and 1965 the U.S. passed laws to eliminate judging people by the color of their skin. But did that make his dream come true? 

Robert L. Woodson agrees with the famous MLK dream. He says that history's inspiring stories of black Americans who achieved against the odds came from character and virtue:

"These accomplishments were made possible by a set of values cherished among the blacks of the time: self-determination, resiliency, personal virtue, honesty, honor and accountability. Dr. King understood that these values would be the bedrock for black success once true equality was won."

Racial identity politics doesn't accomplish the dream. As economist Thomas Sowell says, it takes us the opposite direction.

A dream 1

If he had lived, Martin Luther King, Jr. would have been 92 years old last Monday. His "I have a dream" speech has never stopped resonating with Americans, though delivered back in 1963. 

The timeless core of his dream: "That my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." 

"Discord will be turned into brotherhood . . "All God's children will be able to sing with new meaning 'My Country Tis of Thee' . .  Let freedom ring from every mountain side."

His imagery is American and Christian. 

(cont'd tomorrow)

For yourself

Robert P. George is a law professor at Princeton University. He posted this on Facebook:

"Here's something I've learned in thirty-six years of teaching super talented and high achieving, highly ambitious young men and women: A great many people believe what they believe because they believe it is what smart, sophisticated, high achieving people are supposed to believe; and they want to be smart, sophisticated, and high achieving.

photo

"Of course, smart, sophisticated, high achieving people can be wrong, and indeed are wrong about many things. That is why thinking for oneself is so critically important. It is a teacher's duty, or so it seems to me, to encourage students to shun intellectual conformism--groupthink--and think for themselves.

"The best way for a teacher to do that is by setting an example. What a teacher says is important--very important; what a teacher does is even more important. Every parent knows this from his or her own experience in bringing up children. Do you want your young charges to be courageous? Model courage for them. Do you want them to question conventional opinions? Question them yourself. Do you want them to think for themselves? Think for yourself."

Tesla rising 2

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

Tesla had a spectacular 2020. Quarter 3 (July-September) produced new company records for manufacture and delivery of new cars, and then Q4 topped Q3 and set brand new records.

Year 2020 in summary: 499,550 new Teslas were delivered to customers. Half a million is the goal they set for 2018 and Elon Musk is famous for over-promising - but now it's done. It was done despite a pandemic forcing the weeks-long closure of two of its four factories.

Big numbers like these drove up market capitalization. To grasp how big this is, combine the values of oil companies ExxonMobil, Chevron and BP with car manufacturers General Motors, Volkswagen, Ford, and Nissan. Tesla's market cap is bigger.

But the enormous market cap of $780 billion is evidence that investors expect much, much more productivity growth. Elon Musk hopes for a million deliveries this year. Maybe it'll take a couple of years.

Tesla rising 1

For Tesla, 2020 was an amazing year. You may remember that it did a 5-for-1 stock split in late August, meaning that whatever number of shares you owned at the time was multiplied by five. The value of a share also was divided by five. 

"Market cap" shows the astonishing rise of the company over twelve months. This metric is calculated by multiplying the number of shares by the current stock price. A year ago Tesla was valued at just over $100 billion, but this month the market cap is $780 billion.

It's a reflection of investors' confidence in the company's future success making and selling cars. At least some of that confidence now seems well-placed . . because Tesla in 2020, despite the pandemic, set impressive new records.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Not seen 3

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

Misfortune has come down on the head of Jack Ma since he criticized the Chinese Communist Party last October before a global audience. The financial arm of his company was ordered to "re-organize," state media are calling him a vampire who stole billions from the poor, and he himself is now "embracing supervision" at an undisclosed location.

To disable this sort of person is what motivated the CCP to legalize arbitrary and secret detentions in 2013. 

Forbes reported in 2016 that China's billionaires run the risk of disappearing:

• Friends couldn't find Ren Zhiqiang for a while, his assets were taken, now he is doing 18 years of prison for bribery. Did he do it? 
• Xiao Jianhua was snatched from Hong Kong, and the Chinese government has taken over a half dozen companies connected to his firm.

Princeton University professor says that “[E]specially in the last few years, the CCP has made a regular practice of arresting such people and stripping them of their assets."

Not seen 2

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

You may have heard of him but know nothing about him, which was my situation til this happened. So I watched this video and learned. He's very articulate - even in English which is not his native language - and he has some wisdom.

People in their twenties, he says, should find a good company and focus on learning "how to do things properly." In your 30's, "if you want to do something yourself, just do it." It's the time to try things because "you can afford to lose." In your 40's, do what you're good at since it's more dangerous now to try new things. In your 50's, spend time training the next generation. In your 60's, spend time with your grandchildren. 

Jack Ma is not the only achiever to be "detained" by the Chinese Communist Party.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Not seen 1

Said to be the richest man in China, Alibaba founder Jack Ma is a global celebrity. He's recognized and watched. So people noticed when he went missing from public appearances a couple of months ago. 

Like most important people, he's  probably confident, bold, and informed. He spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last October. But his confident boldness to speak his opinion seemingly went too far. He criticized the financial policies of the Chinese Communist Party. He forgot that, powerful as he might be, the CCP must power over him and his opinions. 

 

photo

from Mind Matters, where you'll find lots of other media links to the missing Jack Ma story

(cont'd tomorrow)

W. Buffett 2

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

The hedge fund manager, Ted Seides,  who competed against the S&P 500 in Warren Buffett's famous bet, conceded the game in September of 2017. His company's expertly-managed investments were only able to gain 2.2% per year (years 2-10) compared to the S&P 500's average of 7%. That's huge.

"That means Seides’ $1 million hedge fund investments . . only earned $220,000 in the same period that Buffett’s low-fee investment gained $854,000."

Much of that enormous difference results from the fees that hedge fund managers charge. But the cost of an average index fund is way smaller. Buffett's comment to his shareholders: "Performance comes, performance goes. Fees never falter."

What if you had invested $100,000 over the past ten years, 2011-2020? Here's a summary of what actually happened so you can make a recent comparison:

from Carpe Diem

from NY Post

W. Buffett 1

Warren Buffett is an investment legend and, according to Wikipedia, the 4th richest person in the world at about $85 billion. He and Bill Gates formed the "Giving Pledge" in 2009 where billionaires pledge to give away at least half of their fortunes. His own pledge is to give away 99% of it.

Sometimes called the "Sage of Omaha," he lives frugally - not grandly - in Nebraska. As just a teenager he started his investing career, and now at 80 years old his advice is sought by people all over the world.

(photo)

Back in 2007 he made a famous bet: "that an unmanaged, low-cost S&P-500 index fund would out-perform an actively managed group of high-cost hedge funds over a ten-year period from 2008 to 2017, when performance is measured on a basis net of fees, costs, and all expenses."

An elite firm of experienced, highly incentivized investment managers - "loaded with brains, adrenaline and confidence" - took him up on that bet. The ten-year result delivered what he called an unforeseen investment lesson.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Creativity 2

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

People add their ideas/talents/virtues to the resources they have access to. They create progress, they create value. Here is an inspiring man who raised the GNP of Bangladesh:

"Can cell phones fight poverty better than aid? Entrepreneur Iqbal Quadir would say so. He believes the secret lies behind technology and innovation."

Mr. Quadir got the insight that connectivity among the poor of his native country would increase their wealth. Why? It's not obvious at first, so he tells a story. 

One day in Bangladesh, he walked ten miles to get medicine for his family, only to find that the medicine man was gone. So he walked ten miles back home, an all-day round trip. His entire day was a waste of time and energy which could have been invested in productive work. So now it's obvious - a phone would have enabled him to make that trip when the medicine was available. 

His insight led him to start a phone company to serve the poor of Bangladesh. "This one company…is raising the GNP of the country much more than the aid this country receives."

Creativity

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

Like Michelangelo's chunk of marble, oil and sand had no value to people - until people applied their imagination, effort, resources, aesthetic sensibility, engineering, craftsmanship, cooperation, and problem-solving skills to them.  Then there was value. 

People create value/wealth for themselves and their community. They take the resources they have available and apply their non-material knowledge and talent. 

Author J.R.R. Tolkien says, ". . we make in our measure . . because we are made: and not only made, but made in the image and likeness of a Maker."  J. R. R. TOLKIEN, On Fairy-Stories

So we are able to create . . because we are created . . by our Creator . . to be like Him.

Create wealth

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

We know art is creative.  But have you ever thought about the creation of wealth?  Wealth not just for one individual, but wealth as life-improvement spread throughout a community or nation of people.

"Think about oil for a minute.  For thousands of years, oil was a nuisance - an insoluble mess to be scrubbed from your feet if you were unlucky enough to step in it.  Then one day someone had the bright idea of burning it to provide energy.  Suddenly oil was a resource, not a nuisance.  Soon dark streets could be lit, homes heated, cars driven.  The oil hadn't changed.  But [human] ingenuity had made this formerly useless substance into something we call "black gold."  Can you imagine the world without it?

"Now let's examine sand.  Sand is everywhere.  Like oil, it's sometimes hard to get rid of!  A grain of sand by itself has no value.  But a man can take that grain and transform it into a silicon chip, and suddenly it has value.  Another man can then take that chip and impregnate it with data, making it worth even more.  And when someone else connects that chip to a computer, it is worth quite a lot.  Multibillion-dollar companies like Intel have been built on grains of sand.  The sand, of course, remains basically worthless.  It must wait for people to give it its value." (from Discipling Nations)

(cont'd tomorrow)

Create music

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

"In the barrios of Paraguay, a humble garbage picker uses his ingenuity to craft instruments out of recycled materials – and a youth orchestra is born. Music arises and children find new dreams. Our film will showcase the power of creativity, hope, empowerment, and community work."

"This is a wonderful example of what we call the development ethic from Genesis: people using what they have, the resources in their own community, to add value to their world.

"At the core of this vision is the heart and soul of people made in God’s image, acting creatively."

from Darrow Miller

Create . . art

 "It began as part of a mountain in Italy.  Then one day a workman came along and began chiseling out a block of marble.  Using his discerning eye and powerful hands and arms, he worked for weeks.  When the block was finally hewn from the mountain, another man with a horse-drawn wagon hauled it to Florence.  A third fellow bought the stone and had it put on a pedestal in his studio.  That man was Michelangelo.  As he went about his other work, the artist would often pause to gaze at the immense, flawed block.  Perhaps months later, Michelangelo saw what lay hidden in the stone.  Finally, he picked up his hammer and chisel and began to reveal it.  Today we call what was once a buried chunk of marble a priceless masterpiece -The David."   Discipling Nations

That buried chunk of stone was worthless to people.  Then three individuals (in this story) applied their labor and intelligence and genius to the stone, and the original material (it was always in there) now had huge value, huge worth.  That value, that wealth of beauty, was created by people.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Emissions 2020 2

 (cont'd from yesterday's post)

Is the U.S. effective in what it's doing to reduce carbon emissions? 

Yes. According to that United Nations report graph in yesterday's post, carbon emissions per person in America are declining every year. So the total of national emissions stays roughly steady in spite of population growth every year. 

Is that true of every nation? No. Per capita emissions in India, China, Russia continue to grow, along with their national totals.

The point of this post and of the article it's from is not to point fingers at those nations, but to set minds at rest. Many people worried that America would become reckless after leaving the Paris Accords. That didn't happen.

On the contrary. According to the U.N. report, the U.S. need not re-join the Paris Accords agreement: "instead, the U.S. should just keep doing what it is doing to cut its own emissions." We're doing well without the Paris Accords.

from Forbes

Emissions 2020 1

Carbon emissions are being tracked by nation, industry, company, all over the world. The United Nations just released its Emissions Gap Report 2020 earlier this month. It's a summary of emissions by nation, the up/down trends, and a surprising recommendation for America.

With the high standard of living in the United States, it's no surprise that our carbon emissions as a nation are high, 13% of the global total. China comes in highest in total national emissions with 25% of the global total.

National totals are rising each year for China, Russia, and India. Emissions per capita - per person - rising there also. But in the US, per capita emissions are falling each year.

from Forbes

(cont'd tomorrow)

The Blessing

 Churches and Christian groups in the United Kingdom got a big project together last May, and it went viral. Singers and musicians from their homes performed "The Blessing" and sang it for their country. Enjoy.

from Premier Christian News

Fishing feat

 A young fishing guide had an "insane day" last month on a central Minnesota lake. He managed to land two enormous, very heavy muskies within a half hour of each other. Each weighed over 50 pounds.

It's a feat he doesn't expect to experience ever again.

from Star Tribune

Materialist 1

Reuben, a student in the U.K., wrote to Discovery Institute. He said, "your work may have saved my life." No, Discovery doesn't do medical research or emergency rescues. 

Reuben's school system was turning students like him into materialists who deny God, free will, human dignity. He was depressed, but searching. He ran across articles and books from Discovery Institute, which stands up to the materialism paradigm. They take seriously the evidence for an intelligent designer of life and the universe.

Some people prefer a view of reality that tells them that the material universe is all there is, or ever was, or ever will be.  But most people, like Reuben, intuitively know there's more to reality than material stuff. They (we) will never surrender.

Agnus Dei

Agnus Dei is Latin for "Lamb of God" . . the image the Bible holds of Jesus Christ: innocent, given to the world of humankind to redeem us from the darkness.

If you are not a believer, or not yet, here's a question for you. What if you learned that it's all true, that the One True God created and loves the world and you individually? Would you rejoice in this music?

It will resonate in your spirit only if you know the One True God to be both good and true. This is my favorite song for Christmas this year.

Kids' words

 Here's the Christmas story as told by kids in their own words, and acted out by grown-ups. 

Rescue

If you'd like more bad news today (most of us have had enough bad news this year), you'll have to get it somewhere else - because this post is good news. Good news still happens! It just doesn't get much press.

Five high school freshmen were together outside in Middleton, N.J., when they heard screaming: a dad shouting "Hop off! Hop off!" His 8-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son were flying down a hill on an innertube, backward. 

The kids hit an ice patch, shot over a snow bank, and slid into a pond. Kieran Foley (14) jumped in the shallow, freezing water. His four friends formed a chain to pass the boy to the shore and then did the same for the girl. Kieran lost his boots and finished the rescue barefooted.

The dad gave his pants and boots to Kieran, but that's all the boys would take. No money. 

The mom said, “In this day and age when kids don’t really care and all they do is take their phones out and videotape when something happens, these kids did not even hesitate. I just wanted to call their parents and say, ‘you raised some really great kids.'”

from News12, The Stream

Celebrate

Christianity is the biggest religion in the world, so Christmas is celebrated globally. Many European distinctives found their way to America in the great waves of immigration: stocking stuffers, lighted trees, Santa Claus, reindeer.

Conjunction

Tonight I will join many of you watching the early night sky to see the conjunction of planets Jupiter and Saturn. They are of course very far away from each other but appear close together on rare occasions. 

Click on astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez's photo (that he took through a small telescope) to see moons and rings:

Two planets in conjunction is an explanation some give for the "Bethlehem star" that guided kings to the birthplace of Jesus Christ. There was one that took place on June 17 of 2 B.C. with planets Jupiter and Venus.

from The Stream