On the Ground - Nicholas D. Kristof

Nicholas Kristof an Op-Ed contributor to the New York Times posted this article on the NY Times web site.

December 5, 2008, 10:00 am — Updated: 1:35 pm -->
Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush’s Future
By Nicholas Kristof
"Jimmy Carter is by far the best ex-president the United States has ever had, and he underscored that again this morning by announcing that Guinea Worm cases have reached an all-time low. For those of you who have never heard of it, Guinea Worm is one of the worst parasites you can get. The worms burrow inside of you, grow to almost three feet long, are incredibly painful, and finally pop out of the skin and have to be reeled out, inch by inch, over many days. They are an ancient affliction in tropical countries, but Carter has led an effort to eradicate them.
Last year, I caught up with Carter in rural Ethiopia and wrote about his efforts to fight river blindness and Guinea Worm, and ran a video of it as well. Today he announces that Guinea Worm is down to 5,000 cases worldwide — mostly in Sudan, Mali and Ghana — and tantalizingly close to eradication. If it is eradicated, it will be only the second ailment, after smallpox, that we’ve been able to eliminate form Earth.
Carter sees this as a race between him and the worm: will he be able to eliminate Guinea Worm while he’s still on Earth? I hope he wins the race, and it looks as if eradication may be achievable in the next few years. Worldwide cases have already been reduced by 99.7 percent, and Carter’s work has truly transformed those villages where the worm used to be endemic. He shows that these are battles we can win.
Let’s hope that President Bush, in figuring out what to do in his post-presidency, borrows a page from Jimmy Carter. There are lots of diseases waiting for a wealthy, well-connected Texan to lead the fight against."

Jimmy Carter, an admitted Christian, is an example for all of the rest of us who claim to be Christians, for he is a hearer and a doer of the Word also. Perhaps we can't all do something as spectacular as eliminating Guinea Worm but we can look around and find something to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. What is that something?

(Another) Almost but not quite Daily Post

"You are a Christian only so long as you constantly pose critical questions to the society you live in... so long as you stay unsatisfied with the status quo and keep saying that a new world is yet to come."

-Henri Nouwen

Do not rob the poor because they are poor,
or crush the afflicted at the gate;
for the Lord pleads their cause
and despoils of life those who despoil them.

- Proverbs 22:22-23

As seen on Verse and Voice from So Jo magazine on 10/23/08

News

Looking over some of the old posts I noticed that one pointed to two widgets on the side of the blog that provided news. One was from Yahoo! and the other from the New York Times. Unfortunately the New York Times widget did not seem to be updating; so it has been replaced by BBC news. There is nothing wrong with the reporting of the New York Times (outside of the fact that that widget did not update) but the BBC gives a somewhat different world view and perhaps news that we may not get through our domestic news services. This is not to complain about our domestic news sources it is simply to say that we can see news through a different lens; a different world viewpoint.

Who are "... our people..."who are hungry?

On SojoMail@sojo.net recently in their daily Verse and Voice postings there were two thought provoking quotes. The first from Mahatma Gandhi was, "There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread." In another Beau Bridges says, "When we work to end childhood hunger, we are giving our love to kids who need it so much they will never ask for it."

One very small but important thing that can be done daily is to go to the Hunger Site at http://www.thehungersite.com, click on button that provides food to the hungry in the world. While you are there you may want to buy some of the items that they have for sale. Sales support people in need around the world who need that support and each purchase provides more food to the needy. Click on the site, look it over, and decide for yourself what you would like to do.

"If we have all we need and see one of our own people in need, we must have pity on that person, of else we cannot say we love God. Children, you show love for others by truly helping them, and not merely by talking about it." I John 3:17 - 18 (CEV)

Who are "... our own people..."?

Who can the Bills beat? Oh yeah Kansas City!

The quotes below come from ESPN Research. How can the Buffalo Bills score so many points against a team with a record like KC and then be so inept against San Fran? Will I ever get to open a bottle of champagne to toast a Bill's Super Bowl victory? It doesn't look good!

"• A week after scoring 54 points vs. Kansas City, the Bills managed only a field goal in suffering their fifth loss in six games (after beginning the season 5-1).

• The Bills lost despite out gaining the 49ers 350-195 and were done in by two missed field goals and one turnover on downs in San Francisco territory.

• Buffalo was shut out in the first half for the first time since Dec. 16, 2007 at Cleveland.

• Shaun Hill's 12-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Bruce in the first quarter was the only TD of the game. It was Bruce's sixth receiving TD of the season (his most since 2004) and 90Th career receiving TD (he becomes the ninth player in NFL history to reach that mark)."

-- ESPN research
(More information about NFL teams can be found at the ESPN NFL Standings chart on the right side of the blog.)

Liberal Defined

Perusing the net I came across a site that sells buttons,and bumper stickers. One of the buttons caught my eye and I thought that the definition was interesting enough to post. You can view the button and the definition at the right of the blog. I obtained the picture of the button from http://carryabigsticker.com.