« July 2007 | Main | September 2007 »
I wouldn't call it 'too' painful to watch. But it might be close. To paraphrase an old country song: Mama, don't let your daughters grow up to be beauty pageant contestants.
Man do we need more maps, and uh, stuff. Like for helping the kids in South Africa and stuff.
Enjoy, educationally:
The children be our future,
Thomas More
It looks like the new government in France is starting to pay dividends for the U.S. on the international scene. The former government had taken the approach of being a continual thorn in the U.S.'s side. They accepted that they could not compete on the international stage as a superpower, but they could annoy the superpower. The previous strategy had been to marshal world opposition to the U.S. policy on [fill in the blank], thereby increasing their relative power.
This is a useful ploy to increase one's relative strength and prestige on the world stage, and doesn't require a growing economy or serious military--hence, it was perfect for France. Not to be too glib about this, France was also well positioned to adopt this approach given its historic importance in international affairs. With its current 'might' and military capabilities, however, it was relying on past glories and relationships. Nevertheless, if it could be seen as the head of European/international opposition to the U.S., it had power.
The problem, of course, is that their approach forced them to assume the U.S. was wrong--on anything and everything significant. If limiting U.S. power is your goal, you can be fighting on the wrong side of battles when the U.S. is in the right. (And I'll concede, to many French and U.S. liberals, the U.S. being right almost never happens.) Basically, if a strong America was useful (like promoting religious, political, and economic freedom internationally), then the French were not useful, under their former approach.
Enter Nicolas Sarkozy, who is not anti-American, and his new Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. Mr. Kouchner has decades of experience with the factions in Iraq, and is, it seems, well respected there. France has sent him to Iraq where he is meeting with the principles.
In short, while he is frustrating 'diplomats' in France--"a number of diplomats remain skeptical toward his initiative, warning that it could put France and its citizens at greater risk from terrorist attack"--he is getting praise from the U.S. and Britain. This runs contrary to conventional French-diplomat thinking, which is, essentially, pro-Iraq-civil war: "The prevailing view in a significant part of the French diplomatic community is that mediation in Iraq is futile and that the civil war needs to run its course and hand a decisive victory to one faction before the violence can end." How courageous. Let them kill each other (second quotation) so that they don't kill us (first quotation.) I am not, by the way, saying allowing a civil war to run its course is never the approach a foreign power might need to adopt. Circumstances and ability might limit a country's military, diplomatic and humanitarian abilities to end such a conflict. But France's prior absence from the Iraq problem has helped cause the current unrest. It has emboldened Syria and Iran's covert fueling of the conflict and not allowed for a unified world voice to speak against the violence. The lack of unity, in turn, gives other anti-U.S. countries an 'out' to not help.
The irony, of course, is that if Mr. Kouchner is successful in his diplomatic efforts, France will get much of the glory, with none of the casualties and military expenditures, and a blood-thirsty tyrant will have been removed from the Middle East. Their former approach--which the diplomatic corps seem still enthralled by--got them nothing but the notion that they were pro-dictators and anti-U.S. And, at the same time, if you followed last year's Muslim riots in France, it doesn't seem their own Muslim population was all that smitten by the former government.
For now, left and right French newspapers are supporting the move. Conservative-leaning 'Le Figaro' editorialized: "You can shut yourself off for four years in the conviction to have been right but that doesn't increase the role our country plays on the international scene." And liberal 'Le Monde' wrote: "It's time to stop lecturing the Americans about their errors and start contributing to a solution." Contributing to a solution, rather than deliberately hoping for and encouraging a problem--a problem costing soldiers' their lives--is indeed the way to go. I still believe ridding the world of Saddam was a good thing. The price paid has been heavy. But the price going forward will certainly be lower if the historically freedom-loving peoples of the world unite to let Iran and factions in Iraq know that civil war and barbarism will not be tolerated. France's shift, and I hope it is a complete one, is significant. It could help to transform world opinion and speed up a resolution. Mr. Kouchner was a lone voice supporting the U.S. in the early days of the war, but now he has a chance for (his philosophical) right to increase (France's) might. It must have been quite difficult, politically, for him to survive this long. But, thankfully, he has prevailed politically, and hopefully he will diplomatically as well. The article describing this transformation is here. It gives a great review of this change, and insight into the 'diplomats'' way of thinking. You should read it.
Useful that,
Thomas More
A friend of mine told me about a wedding she went to on Saturday. As a singleton, she seemed pretty pleased about catching the bouquet. I laughed as I remembered the last four or five weddings I attended where the “bouquet toss” was announced and the few single girls in the room shifted their gaze to the floor, checked their watches and suddenly decided, en mass, that it was time to visit the restroom.
It seems that no-one wants to catch the bouquet these days. Occasionally I have shuffled onto the dance floor with a few other reluctant girls to pace behind the bride. The bouquet has flown optimistically over our heads and we have all taken a leap backwards, like the bride just tossed a hand-grenade. When the flowers plopped onto the floor in front of us, we all just peered at them and elbowed each other. “You pick it up!” “I’m not going to pick it up. YOU get it!”. Somebody finally scoops it up, more for cleanliness than anything else, and we all shuffle off back to our seats.
I’m not sure why this is. The divorce rate is pretty high, that’s for sure. The single crowd is getting a lot older, that’s also true. Maybe a woman in her late thirties, clawing her way over fellow guests to grab the flying flowers is now a sign of desperation. I can see that. I did a little Google search and checked that the bouquet is supposed to bring good luck to the single girl who catches it. Maybe the assumption that single girls are looking for a mate is now wrong. Many of us still single in our late thirties have long since got bored of the chase and decided to invest our time in other, less demoralising activities.
But here’s what made me laugh more than the thought of my friend leaping into the air to catch the marital good luck charm. She told me that flowers weren’t the only thing in the bouquet. Hmm….what else could be in there? Ribbons? Silver sparkles? A good luck note? How about a good luck note with Benjamin Franklin’s face on it? Yes-it’s now the trend to stick a $100 bill in the bouquet. The beautiful flowers and a promise of a happy marriage are apparently not worth jumping for anymore, but cold hard cash is.
If this is a trend, I’m wondering where it’s going to go from here. Will it increase in line with inflation? When there are so many notes that they fall out of the bouquet, maybe they’ll have to upgrade and include 2 airline tickets to Maui. Hey, I’m not complaining! I might even start training for the next bouquet toss. We singletons will take all the help we can get!
Philomena
Most Republicans I talk to are more horrified by the prospect of Hillary as President than excited by the prospect of one of the Republicans winning. This point of view has not been lost on leading Democrats, who see her high negative numbers as a drag on their party's other races. They are worried this fear will cause more GOP voters to vote than otherwise would be the case.
This survey of leading Democrats explains the Dems'--quite, but very present--fear of Hillary. You should give it a read.
Thomas More
Well, our family finally made the transition from the palmy mid-West to the urban jungle of New York. As one dear old lady warned me, "move" is a four-letter word, but in earnest, now that it's all done, it's good to be in the Big Apple. Half the fun of the whole endeavor was driving a ponderous 22-ft moving truck with a friend, packed with all our worldly goods (all of which were rued, by the way), and learning how to be a trucker. Stops at diesel stations: chatting with drivers of big rigs: being forced to use the trucks-only lanes: being asked to stop at weigh stations: finding in the last 5 miles of our trip that Parkways means "no trucks" and Mapquest had only given us directions for a normal car....
Getting back into a normal car was great fun after inadvertently pruning trees, flattening curbs, and threatening the residents of Scarsdale, NY. So I drove back to Michigan to retrieve my family after unpacking our furniture in NY, and the trip to Canada land began. Despite my beard at the border crossing and having to switch to kilometers once in Ontario, it couldn't have been smoother. Ontario boasts towns in close succession with the names of Paris, Milan, Oxford, and Cambridge. Who needs Europe? But a true boast of our northern neighbors is their marvelous Niagara Falls. It far exceeded expectations, and truth be told, the Canadian falls are much more impressive than the American side. We even took a boat (the so-called "Maid of the Mist") which takes you so close to the Falls that you think this time the captain has had it and is ready to submerge us all permanently. What a fantastic sight to look *up* as thousands of tons of water are pouring down at you.
So, after 3 days in the land which, as a native informed me, cares most about beer and hockey, we entered New York and drove to the Seminary in Crestwood, NY which is to be our home for the next 3 years. A glorious home. Loads of families with children all attending the Seminary, mandatory chapel twice a day when the school year begins (the chapel and choir are very hard to describe, but splendid), and lots of Italians in the area. But the thought of our children obtaining NY accents is troubling!
Nicodemus
I recently returned home from a short-term trip to Africa; Lilongwe to be exact, the capitol city of Malawi. Seventeen men and women, young and old, made the journey. Our purpose was in support of a clinic called Partners in Hope, which responds to medical issues of all sorts, but principally exists to respond to people of Malawi infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. The clinic has grown in just 2 ½ years to include five physicians supported by 70 full time staff.
For four days we worked on four different projects along side various staff members from Partners in Hope and people from the community. The projects targeted the issues of nutrition and education – both integral to the efforts of the clinic in combating this disease – as well as improving the facilities of a satellite clinic in a nearby village. In just four short days, we developed relationships with PIH staff and patients that only side-by-side, face-to face, physical work can produce.
Malawi has the dubious distinction of being ranked as one of the 10 poorest countries in the world. The nickname for Malawi is the “Warm Heart of Africa”, which is an accurate portrayal of the people. They are as a whole communal, gracious, open with the right amount of caution, friendly, engaging, and as most people are, full of promise. In the face of such poverty and promise, I found myself thinking the inevitable messianic thoughts; how can I save these people from their poverty (physical and spiritual) and from the affects of this horrific disease (Malawi has something close to 25% infection rate). The answer of course: I can’t.
But thinking messianic was not the wrong line of thinking, just the wrong messianic emphasis or focus. Our call to be like Jesus is not to fix all the physical problems; and it certainly is not a call to fix spiritual poverty. Ours, in being like Christ, is not to save. Our call is incarnation, going and being with others in their particular place and circumstances. What do we do when we get there? Whatever they are doing in work, in rest, in worship, in celebration, and in eating. It is only in being with others and along side of them in the “dailies” of life that God allows us to play a part in the Messiah’s work of salvation, reconciliation, healing, and redemption.
Vincent of Saragosa
The scene: sipping a margarita with my boss at happy hour last night. As these evenings wear on, the conversation normally drifts to the subject of work colleagues and their various short-comings. My boss complains about everyones limitations and jokes that if we could generate hybrids of people with their mutually exclusive strengths then we’d come up with the perfect employee.
Now it doesn’t take a genius to realise that if I’m sitting there listening to the shortcomings of the guy who sits next to me at work, then when the guy who sits next to me at work is sitting having drinks with the boss, he’s probably hearing all about mine. I guess that’s just life, but it also seems like a waste of potentially useful information. What good is it if all of my shortcomings stay hidden, known to everyone except me? So, draining the last of the margarita for courage, I asked the awkward question. “What are my weaknesses?”.
I’ve never seen the color drain out of anyone’s face quite that fast. What, actually have to tell me, TO MY FACE?? What kind of crazy system is that? I had to go to the restroom to give him time to calm down and ponder his response. When I returned, he took the diplomatic approach and listed all my strengths first. Yeah, yeah, yeah, just get to the point. I can take it. In various situations, he said, (naming them all), I have lacked leadership skills. Hmmm. Well, that’s OK, I thought, because I didn’t think I was supposed to be a leader anyway-pah! So, you can’t fail at something you weren’t even trying to do. The ultimate get-out clause!
But in the cold light of day, and with a little more coffee and a little less tequila, I’m wondering about the whole issue of leadership. We seem to categorise some people as “leaders”, even “born leaders” based largely on their personality but also on communication skills and confidence. I’m pretty sure I’m not in that category, but I’ve been doing my job for long enough now that it’s probably reasonable to expect me to be a leader in some capacity-at least guiding the more junior members of the office as they navigate their way through tasks I can do with my eyes shut. As Christians I think we can be confined by the same definitions. There are “born leaders” in the church: pastors and elders and youth leaders etc who make communicating the gospel look easy. But even if we aren’t in that category, we are bearers of The Good News to a lost world. That to me seems like a serious call to leadership. The Great Commission is a call to leadership. We know this is different (even opposite?) to the leadership we might be called to at work because our Lord led the way in demonstrating leadership by serving others, rather than sitting back and giving instructions. But, it’s leadership all the same. As God’s chosen people, maybe we’re all born leaders?
And with that question, I’m leaving for vacation. Feel free to comment without me, and I’ll enjoy catching up when I get back!
Philomena
Hugh Hewitt: Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That's Changing Your World
Fyodor Dostoevsky: The Brothers Karamazov (Everyman's Library (Cloth))
Marie Winn: The Plug-In Drug: Television, Computers, and Family Life
Shelby Steele: The Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race In America
Thomas Howard: Splendor in the Ordinary: Your Home as a Holy Place
C. S. Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Full-Color Collector's Edition)
John Bunyan: The Pilgrim's Progress (Oxford World's Classics)
Lewis Carroll: Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (Illustrated Junior Library)
Recent Comments