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Sunday, June 24, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Can you imagine?
Read this article from the New York Times:
Influx From Zimbabwe to South Africa Tests Both
Can you imagine an inflation rate so high that you suddenly find your monthly salary worth $2? I can't. I can try, but I'm sure that what I'm imagining as I type on my computer on my couch while watching TV in my comfy apartment is nowhere close to the reality.
Influx From Zimbabwe to South Africa Tests Both
Can you imagine an inflation rate so high that you suddenly find your monthly salary worth $2? I can't. I can try, but I'm sure that what I'm imagining as I type on my computer on my couch while watching TV in my comfy apartment is nowhere close to the reality.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Diamond Ring
I'm tired of hearing a girl say that she's not "technically" engaged, because Johnny can't afford the ring yet. What in the world is that?! She only loves him enough if he can afford a diamond ring?
Second, I hate that the first thing we want to do is look at the ring when we find out a girl got engaged, as if that's the most important part of the engagement. I do it too. I feel awkward if I don't ask to see the ring, because that's the expected reaction.
Third, it feels wrong for me to expect to wear a $2000+ ring on my finger when people are starving to death today. I guess I could say that about any of my possessions really. I'm just targeting the diamonds right now though.
My roommate and I went to MythBusters last night, and this is what we found:
"The first recorded instance of a man giving his bride-to-be a diamond ring was in 1477, when Archduke Maximilian of Hamburg gave one to Mary of Burgundy. However, this was only an occasional occurrence among royalty and the extremely wealthy — hardly what would be called a tradition. It wasn't until the 1930s, when the South African diamond company De Beers tried to boost sales by working with Hollywood starlets and movie studios to promote the concept of presenting a diamond ring as part of a marriage proposal, that the idea started to catch on. In 1947, De Beers launched their highly successful "A Diamond Is Forever" marketing campaign, and convinced men that they needed to spend two to three months' salary in order to present their intended with a suitable engagement ring. Today, approximately 75 percent of engagements include a diamond ring."
Second, I hate that the first thing we want to do is look at the ring when we find out a girl got engaged, as if that's the most important part of the engagement. I do it too. I feel awkward if I don't ask to see the ring, because that's the expected reaction.
Third, it feels wrong for me to expect to wear a $2000+ ring on my finger when people are starving to death today. I guess I could say that about any of my possessions really. I'm just targeting the diamonds right now though.
My roommate and I went to MythBusters last night, and this is what we found:
"The first recorded instance of a man giving his bride-to-be a diamond ring was in 1477, when Archduke Maximilian of Hamburg gave one to Mary of Burgundy. However, this was only an occasional occurrence among royalty and the extremely wealthy — hardly what would be called a tradition. It wasn't until the 1930s, when the South African diamond company De Beers tried to boost sales by working with Hollywood starlets and movie studios to promote the concept of presenting a diamond ring as part of a marriage proposal, that the idea started to catch on. In 1947, De Beers launched their highly successful "A Diamond Is Forever" marketing campaign, and convinced men that they needed to spend two to three months' salary in order to present their intended with a suitable engagement ring. Today, approximately 75 percent of engagements include a diamond ring."
Monday, June 18, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Where are the Christians?
Where are the Christians? Where are the DISCIPLES of Christ?
They seem to be far removed from many problems in this world.
They seem to be filling a pew on Sundays.
Their churches locked up during the week. Empty.
It seems to be an exception to the rule that a church be heavily involved in outreach during the week.
It seems to be out of the ordinary if a church is committed to helping the "unloveable."
We’re too busy picking out new clothes to wear to church. We’re too busy.
From my book, 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa:
There was a woman in Zimbabwe that had AIDS. She went to a Church of Christ. But when her story talks about her dying of AIDS, it says that the only support she had was her husband and children. It didn’t mention the church at all, except to say that she had been a member there. Her extended family had completely rejected her. It didn’t say that the church had rejected her, but the lack of mention in the story leads me to believe they weren’t around. If they had been around in the way Jesus was, then the story would have been quite different. It couldn’t have helped but mention the disciples of Christ that had stepped up and lovingly supported this family in their time of need if that had been the case.
This happens every day.
As Christians, we don’t like the tough situations. We just want to go to church, sing some songs, and act like we don’t have problems, and we certainly don’t want to hear about anyone else’s problems, lest we be obligated to give much of our precious time.
I’ve been reading again and again about heroes of social causes. People that stood up when others were being treated unjustly, inhumanely. These people said it wasn’t okay. These people wanted to love on the people that were being rejected by society. These people cared enough to dedicate their LIVES to caring for these people. A lot of these people that I have read about were not Christians. They weren’t Christians, but they still cared about people. Yet Christians, that are supposed to have this higher calling, that are supposed to do unto others as they would have them do unto them, these people that claim to be followers of the Christ, do nothing. We do nothing. Week after week.
God forgive me for my complacency! It kills. It kills spiritually. It kills physically. Each day I remain silent, each day I do nothing, each day I remain inactive, I am making a decision AGAINST those that are suffering.
They seem to be far removed from many problems in this world.
They seem to be filling a pew on Sundays.
Their churches locked up during the week. Empty.
It seems to be an exception to the rule that a church be heavily involved in outreach during the week.
It seems to be out of the ordinary if a church is committed to helping the "unloveable."
We’re too busy picking out new clothes to wear to church. We’re too busy.
From my book, 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa:
There was a woman in Zimbabwe that had AIDS. She went to a Church of Christ. But when her story talks about her dying of AIDS, it says that the only support she had was her husband and children. It didn’t mention the church at all, except to say that she had been a member there. Her extended family had completely rejected her. It didn’t say that the church had rejected her, but the lack of mention in the story leads me to believe they weren’t around. If they had been around in the way Jesus was, then the story would have been quite different. It couldn’t have helped but mention the disciples of Christ that had stepped up and lovingly supported this family in their time of need if that had been the case.
This happens every day.
As Christians, we don’t like the tough situations. We just want to go to church, sing some songs, and act like we don’t have problems, and we certainly don’t want to hear about anyone else’s problems, lest we be obligated to give much of our precious time.
I’ve been reading again and again about heroes of social causes. People that stood up when others were being treated unjustly, inhumanely. These people said it wasn’t okay. These people wanted to love on the people that were being rejected by society. These people cared enough to dedicate their LIVES to caring for these people. A lot of these people that I have read about were not Christians. They weren’t Christians, but they still cared about people. Yet Christians, that are supposed to have this higher calling, that are supposed to do unto others as they would have them do unto them, these people that claim to be followers of the Christ, do nothing. We do nothing. Week after week.
God forgive me for my complacency! It kills. It kills spiritually. It kills physically. Each day I remain silent, each day I do nothing, each day I remain inactive, I am making a decision AGAINST those that are suffering.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
I want to GO!
I just got done reading an article on the Doctors Without Borders website about how there just aren't enough medical professionals to get ARVs (antiretrovirals) to all the people with AIDS that need them. In just one district they're treating 7,000 people and need to increase it to 10,000, but they can't b/c they don't have the docs and nurses to distribute the drugs. The report I was reading covered Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa. I'm also still reading my book, 28 Sotries of AIDS in Africa. I read about 100 pages on the plane last night, and I get SO frustrated! I can't wait to start grad school so I can hurry and finish it and GO! I looked up a list of the poorest countries in the world. They are as follows:
aneki.com
Poorest Countries in the World
Rank, Country, GDP - per capita
1 Malawi $ 600
2 Somalia $ 600
3 Comoros $ 600
4 Solomon Islands $ 600
5 Congo, Democratic Republic of the$ 700
6 Burundi $ 700
7 East Timor $ 800
8 Tanzania $ 800
9 Afghanistan $ 800
10 Yemen $ 900
Can you imagine making $600 a year?!
I'm going to give you and exerpt from my book 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolen:
"...Winstone gave a young woman named Jennifer the happy news that her TB had been successfully treated, she responded by bursting into tears: without TB, she would no longer qualify for a weekly parcel of soya powder and beans, the only source of food for her three children. 'When I went home I couldn't sleep,' Winstone wrote about those days. 'I felt terrible. What was the use of setting up Kara Counseling in Kabwe if the people wished they had AIDS so they could get a few cents? How could we fight TB if patients felt happy to be sick so they could get a few pounds of soya powder? What the fucking hell was I doing here?' He thought about his most recent speaking tour in the US, where he was told about a cat with kidney problems on dialysis, saw massive sport utility vehicles with built in DVD players, heard that the leading epidemic in the country was obesity. 'And here I am stuck with Jennifer and Joyce in my little office as they wish they had the most serious and fatal disease [AIDS] to have hit the world so they can get 80 cents every week.'"
So that's what's on my mind today. All the need in the world, and I'm still stuck here in SF, waiting to start grad school. I CAN'T WAIT TO FINISH GRAD SCHOOL AND GO!
aneki.com
Poorest Countries in the World
Rank, Country, GDP - per capita
1 Malawi $ 600
2 Somalia $ 600
3 Comoros $ 600
4 Solomon Islands $ 600
5 Congo, Democratic Republic of the$ 700
6 Burundi $ 700
7 East Timor $ 800
8 Tanzania $ 800
9 Afghanistan $ 800
10 Yemen $ 900
Can you imagine making $600 a year?!
I'm going to give you and exerpt from my book 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolen:
"...Winstone gave a young woman named Jennifer the happy news that her TB had been successfully treated, she responded by bursting into tears: without TB, she would no longer qualify for a weekly parcel of soya powder and beans, the only source of food for her three children. 'When I went home I couldn't sleep,' Winstone wrote about those days. 'I felt terrible. What was the use of setting up Kara Counseling in Kabwe if the people wished they had AIDS so they could get a few cents? How could we fight TB if patients felt happy to be sick so they could get a few pounds of soya powder? What the fucking hell was I doing here?' He thought about his most recent speaking tour in the US, where he was told about a cat with kidney problems on dialysis, saw massive sport utility vehicles with built in DVD players, heard that the leading epidemic in the country was obesity. 'And here I am stuck with Jennifer and Joyce in my little office as they wish they had the most serious and fatal disease [AIDS] to have hit the world so they can get 80 cents every week.'"
So that's what's on my mind today. All the need in the world, and I'm still stuck here in SF, waiting to start grad school. I CAN'T WAIT TO FINISH GRAD SCHOOL AND GO!
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