Pope Frank sticks up for the poor again

~ susie ~ 2 Comments

CHARLIE HEBDO

And takes another swipe at capitalism:

Pope Francis strongly defends his repeated criticisms of the global market economy in a new interview released Sunday, rebutting those who accuse him of “pauperism” by saying he is only repeating Jesus’ message of caring for the poor.

“Jesus affirms that you cannot serve two masters, God and wealth,” Francis states in the interview, bluntly asking: “Is it pauperism?”

“Jesus tells us that it is the ‘protocol’ on the basis of which we will be judged, it is what we read in Chapter 25 of Matthew: I had hunger, I had thirst, I was in prison, I was sick, I was naked and you helped me: dressed me, visited me, you took care of me,” the pontiff continues.

“This is the touchstone,” he states, asking again: “Is it pauperism? No, it is the Gospel.”

“The Gospel message is a message open to all,” the pope continues. “The Gospel does not condemn the rich but idolatry of wealth, that idolatry that renders [us] insensitive to the cries of the poor.”

And then he said that leaders have to put the common good first:

We cannot wait more to resolve the structural causes of poverty, to heal our society from a disease that can only lead to new crises. Markets and financial speculation cannot enjoy absolute autonomy.

Without a solution to the problems of the poor we cannot resolve the problems of the world. They serve programs, mechanisms and processes oriented to a better allocation of resources, creation of work, [and] integral promotion of those who are excluded.

Pondering the possibilities

~ susie ~ 3 Comments

So I’m wondering: Was the Charlie Hedbo event staged? Did it happen the way they’re telling us? Once the shock was over, I kept thinking there was something off about it. (Especially since, against the express wishes of the U.S., France just backed Palestine in the vote that would allow them to bring a motion to investigate Israeli war crimes. It just seems like very convenient timing.)

Someone I know posted this on Facebook, saying, “I saw Lawrence O’Donnell play this footage on his program Wednesday night — and he commented that the network censors would not allow the video to be shown without blurring, supposedly because it was too gruesome. Now we can see why it was really blurred out.”

Well, you know, I don’t believe everything I see on the internet. Who’s to say this is the real missing footage? Yet I find myself very resistant to the official version of events. And the whole thing about the alleged perpetrator’s wallet being found in the car is a hallmark of “deep state” events we’ve seen before.

What are your thoughts?

Ivan Klima covers the NFL playoffs

~ odd man out ~ 1 Comment

klima

Swamp Rabbit and I were hungry, so we took a two-day job — strictly commission, unfortunately — peddling magical electricity in a suburban mall. There were flat-screen TVs and football fans all over the place. We caught some of the New England Patriots-Baltimore Ravens playoff game as we worked. The rabbit had bet on the Patriots to win by seven points, but they only won by four, so he lost his bet and was in no mood to join the Patriots fans as they cheered.

But the fans quickly shut up and went back to gawking at the shiny toys in the mall. Tom Brady is a great QB, I told the rabbit, but who really cares about the Patriots where we live, in Philadelphia Eagles country? In fact, who cares about the Eagles? They’re done. Show me the next distraction, please.

“In the end, it’s all garbage,” I added.

No one was looking to consume magical electricity, so I pulled from my backpack a dog-eared copy of Czech novelist Ivan Klima’s Love and Garbage and read to the rabbit a relevant passage about consumers:

They fill the streets, the squares, the stadiums and the department stores. When they burst into cheers over a winning goal, a successful pop song or a revolution, it seems as if that roar would go on forever, but it is followed at once by the deathly silence of emptiness and oblivion.

“Don’t give me no high-falutin’ lectures, I ain’t in the mood,” the rabbit replied. “I just lost fifty bucks on them freakin’ Patriots. Now I gotta stand here and watch these here consumers consume all them toys I can’t afford.”

I told him all is good, the toys won’t make the consumers any happier than he is, not for more than a few minutes. “What these people need, they can’t buy at the mall,” I said.

I added. “You’re just looking to fill the void inside you where your soul should be.”

“You got that right, Odd Man. Any liquor stores in this dump?”

We folded up our table and left the mall, still hungry. On the way back to the swamp I stole some wieners at the SuperFridge and a liter of Wild Turkey at Tinicum Beer & Spirits.

“Here you go, rabbit,” I said, handing him the Wild Turkey back at the shack. “But this garbage won’t fill the void.”

He guzzled straight from the bottle and said, “Maybe not, but at least it’ll stop the shakes.”