tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-93785742011-12-14T22:01:03.153-05:00An attempt to take an open minded view of current topics, <br>strip away excess detail and arguments, <br>and get at underlying issues — nicodemus3108@earthlink.netNicodemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15372135347647397152noreply@blogger.comBlogger111100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9378574.post-34826278010145631052008-01-08T13:19:00.000-05:002008-01-08T13:35:04.250-05:00

After a long period of being depressed about politics and events, it’s possible that there may be change in the offing. There are many complex factors in play; and, in the last couple of elections, voter registration, voting, and the counting of votes have all been a factor. With that in mind, please register and then vote. If you are not already registered, the following widget connects to “Rock

Nicodemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15372135347647397152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9378574.post-42712842333643469312008-01-07T17:11:00.000-05:002008-01-07T17:12:54.755-05:00

Looking out the window at chickadees flitting to and from the feeder, hammering their seeds in the safety of the juniper. We’ve been feeding them for many years. Enjoying them. Feeling somehow connected to them. Then comes a clear vision. They are not the same chickadees we were feeding only a few years ago. Those are all dead. These too will be dead in a year or two. And yet we always have

Nicodemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15372135347647397152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9378574.post-1125540745311174062005-08-31T22:09:00.000-04:002005-08-31T22:12:25.320-04:00

June 21st, just after dusk. They call it the Strawberry Moon. It hung low over the fields as I was driving home. I just had to walk back with my wife so that we could share it. The stars were not quite out yet. Maybe just a few twinkling faintly. The sky still had a tinge of lightness, but the sun was below the western horizon and the red of the sunset was gone. We held hands, walking down to the

Nicodemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15372135347647397152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9378574.post-1106948351510952682005-01-28T16:34:00.000-05:002005-01-28T16:39:11.510-05:00

Karl Rove is sharp, but has a glib tongue and freely manipulates statistics. It's easy to be caught off guard when one doesn't have the instantaneous research to fact check and respond to his prepared sound bites. When Juan Williams interviewed him on January 20tha, Karl Rove said, "He [President Bush] received the highest percentage of the vote since 1988 of any candidate for President. In fact,

Nicodemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15372135347647397152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9378574.post-1106064118869121822005-01-18T10:59:00.000-05:002005-01-18T11:01:58.870-05:00

The push to privatize Social Security, or part of it, is about the distribution of risk and opportunity. It's not presented that way; but, strip away economic, bureaucratic and legal details, and that is what is left. Take a system where the risk and opportunity are balanced by sharing them collectively, and change it to a system where the risk and opportunity are faced individually by everyone

Nicodemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15372135347647397152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9378574.post-1104465778954969572004-12-30T23:01:00.000-05:002004-12-30T23:02:58.953-05:00

We have become a divisive nation. Our politics have become an arena of negative campaigns, slanted or untruthful descriptions of opponents, and cheap one liners. Opposing sides are often unable or unwilling to openly and intelligently discuss alternative points of view. The victims are the voters, who end up misinformed, their votes based on half truths sold to them by the highest bidders. One

Nicodemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15372135347647397152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9378574.post-1103664422069805882004-12-21T16:23:00.000-05:002004-12-21T16:27:02.070-05:00

It is one thing to teach that by accepting and following Jesus you will find your way to heaven. It is quite another to teach that all those who do not will burn in hell. The first encourages you to accept the love and understanding of Jesus and to reflect it through yourself. The second turns away from these teachings, claims ownership of the sole revealed truth, and speaks with intolerance

Nicodemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15372135347647397152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9378574.post-1102533808156623702004-12-08T14:19:00.000-05:002004-12-08T14:23:28.156-05:00

A depth of feeling about the land and the environment around us comes from immersion. In the so called modern world, people have become too isolated from the natural environment. Many have become immersed in cultural or technological phenomena and relate to those rather than to the natural phenomena of the world. Sara Stein has documented this in her books beginning with "Noah's Garden" [1993]

Nicodemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15372135347647397152noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9378574.post-1102450058396752752004-12-07T15:02:00.000-05:002004-12-07T15:07:38.396-05:00

Is it naive to believe in the importance of understanding and caring for others? Are there those who will simply smile upon it as wrong headed and then go about achieving power through cynical means? Is it necessary that they should succeed and those who are thus labeled "naive" should fail? Have Jesus and Mohammed failed because their followers have caused so much anguish in their names? Are

Nicodemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15372135347647397152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9378574.post-1102366288620523832004-12-06T15:50:00.000-05:002004-12-06T15:51:28.620-05:00

Understanding others is an age old issue. It is far too easy to become closed in with one's own thoughts and beliefs and to listen only to those who agree, and it is often difficult to understand those who are different or have had different experiences. However, any true leader should recognize the issue and make the effort. Bush's strength in speaking for his beliefs is also his weakness. He

Nicodemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15372135347647397152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9378574.post-1101752825347498272004-11-29T13:24:00.000-05:002004-11-29T13:27:05.346-05:00

One of the principle issues that the Democratic party has to resolve is how to address the authoritarian, militaristic approach that the Bush administration has chosen in the aftermath of 9/11. Kerry had the credentials, but was unable to define the issues in any way that didn't implicitly support Bush's policies. Doing a better, more careful job of authoritarian militarism somehow doesn't carry

Nicodemushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15372135347647397152noreply@blogger.com1