beautifull poetry. written beautifully.

dan cristian patru

We certainly disagree about derivatives. I already mentioned one book above: here’s another that you might find truly fascinating: FIASCO, by Frank Partnoy. Partnoy was a trader with Morgan Stanley until 1994, at which time he found himself deeply disturbed over many Wall Street practices, first and foremost among them, derivatives. His book came out in 1997, and was re-released in 1999. I’d be very interested to know your thoughts about the book. It’s a great read, BTW.

I love this sonnet. Thanks for posting. =))

I know of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for your family, fellow believers in Jesus Christ and unbelievers.

I have not stopped giving thanks for you remembering you in my prayers. May God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, give you a spirit of of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of your inheritance through him and the unthinkable power he give to us who believe.

Praise God for His love and mercy. For it is by grace we are saved and this is not because of ourselves but it is God’s gift to all who believe in His son Jesus Christ through who we were created to do good works through His power not our own.

Philippians 4:4-9
Rejoice in the Lord, be gentle, do not be anxious but talk to God and the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Jesus Christ.

Finally remember TNRPLE : Whatever is True, Noble, Right, Pure, Lovely, Admirable, Excellent or Praiseworthy – think on those things and practice them and the peace of God will be with you.

God is not finished with us yet. We are a treasured work in progress.

Jesus Bless and Keep You

I would take issue with the statement “American financial corporations have been fiscally irresponsible on a massive scale for years now.” I would agree that there have been many lenders who have succumbed to poor lending practices; worse there are many who have encouraged their customers to lie in order to obtain financing. But I do not believe it appropriate to indite an entire industry for the actions of a few. Overall, we have a sound financial structure; I know you’ll disagree with that, but that’s okay.

Your second point is in regard to derivatives which are useful, necessary and good. Any investment is risky and speculative. The only truly dangerous derivative is “naked short selling”; this practice should be completely banned.

In general I agree that banks should be allowed to fail. However, in our current circumstances it is in the public interest to keep the failures from spiraling on top of one another and wrecking greater havoc. The bailout is not meant to fix problems, it is meant to control the crash that must come.

I do agree, and stated in my original post, that giving unchecked powers to any official or body of officials is inappropriate.

Overall, I disagree with your analysis, but agree with a couple of your thoughts.

At this time, virtually ALL of our financial institutions are dependent on derivatives for a large part of their profits — indeed, for their existence. This is an extremely dangerous situation.

Warren Buffet calls derivatives “financial weapons of mass destruction” with good reason. Derivatives are basically OUTSIDE BETS on what assets will do — a form of futures trading. All futures trading is essentially speculation, or gambling. In mid-2006, 97% of US bank-held derivatives were in the hands of only five banks, with giants JP Morgan Chase and Citi topping the list. Worse still, this speculative trading is largely done with borrowed money, and a lot more money than they actually own in assets. That means two really BIG negative things are true:

1) Virtually all of our banks — including the biggest two — are incredibly overexposed. They’re in debt for many times their own worth. And there is not sufficient insurance to cover their debts — less than $2 billion to cover an estimated $370+ TRILLION in derivatives debt!

2) Meanwhile, that $370 trillion market for these derivatives is 28 TIMES THE ANNUAL OUTPUT of the entire US economy ($13 trillion)! In other words, our banks owe many times more money than our whole nation POSSESSES.

The irresponsibility of middle Americans with no savings and maxed-out credit cards pales in comparison with these guys….

Our financial institutions can no longer be deemed “too big to fail,” when they engage in risky behavior that virtually ensures that they WILL fail, badly. These institutions have gotten away with murder for years now, and our legislators have let them — in large part, perhaps, because they don’t feel knowledgeable enough to inquire too closely into the “complex” world of high finance. However, finance is not all that complex — only the communication style of the banking elite is. And this is undoubtedly intentional. These boys seek to confuse and bore all listeners to the point where they’ll effectively give them the freedom from review that Paulson now demands outright. Tell him NO.

BTW, I’d strongly recommend reading a book entitled THE WEB OF DEBT, by Ellen Hodgson Brown.

Secondly, I think it’s interesting that what you got out of Matthew 19 is that it’s okay not to marry.

Finally, I think the reason that American christian culture holds up marriage as the ideal is twofold, first, it’s a reaction to catholic celibacy in holy orders and, secondly, the easiest way to create new Christians is to give birth to them, it’s much easier than going out and interacting with pre-existing non-Christians.

Sorry for the delay in my response. I have been absent this summer. I am not related to any other sites, past or present, with a similar title. But, thank you for stopping by and asking and feel free to be involved here.

Thanks,
Matt

Are you the same person who set up the previous WayofaPilgrim web site? The site ended in October, and I’m not sure if you continued in a different format. I subscribed to the old web site. Please let me know. thanks!

Linda

Thanks for the links to Maundy Thursday for us “low church” types, and to the free verse *The Shelter of Words.*

He is risen!
He is risen, indeed!

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1108_calvinism_arminianism__education/

The simplest interpretation is that Reuben for one reason or another did not eat with his brother’s that day and was surprised by their decision to sell Joseph. There is no reason to think that the brothers did not intend to kill Joseph at some point.

It is possible that this story is a compilation of a couple different sources, but those sources are telling the same story.

The post you referenced does not seem to be making that argument that the brothers were playing a practical joke, rather it is arguing that they never intended to kill him themselves, rather they wanted to leave him to fend for himself against the wild animals.

I personally find nothing compelling about the arguments in the post you cite.

My wife and I were just at the game last week against ISU. We look really good right now but a loss or two before the tourney may not be bad. Maybe it’ll come Wed night.

Cheers.