Economic crisis, leadership, and prophecy
- 02nd October 2008
- Wallace G. Smith
The ongoing economic drama playing out in America is fascinating, but only in the way that one might find a train wreck fascinating.
To use our advanced search functionality (to search for terms in specific content), please use syntax such as the following examples:
The ongoing economic drama playing out in America is fascinating, but only in the way that one might find a train wreck fascinating.
Buried more than 150 feet below the Swiss and French countryside, on September 10 a monstrous machine rumbled to life. This is the world's biggest and most advanced scientific instrument, supported by more than eight thousand physicists from over eighty-five countries. It is also a machine that some scientists fear may destroy the world.
What does the 2008 Israeli Prime Minster contest have to do with a 2500 year-old prophecy? Who is Ms. Tzipi Livni? And, what are the real prospects for middle east peace, whether led by Ms. Livni, Ehud Barak, former general Shaul Mofaz, Benjamin Netanyahu or others who wish to lead Israel into 2009?
Every day brought new rumors. Soldiers had become more active, and the night before bricks had mysteriously disappeared from many abandoned buildings. And now, people were saying a wall would soon be built. Fearing the worst, Hasso pleaded with his friend that they should escape the city. His friend, skeptical of the rumors, encouraged Hasso to "Relax. Enjoy...
The third week of September 2008 may well prove to have been the axis of the shift from an American/Anglo centre of world financial influence to one centred on the sovereign funds of the Middle East and China. New powers are rising around the world. A resurgent Russia and a dynamic India are vying with Europe and China for their "place in the sun."
As one who has walked through the aftermath of many disasters – having represented insurance companies for decades as a claims adjuster – my attention was really grabbed by the pictures of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ike, and other recent storms.
While we prayed for God's protection for those being battered by Hurricane Ike, another storm was tearing through Wall Street the weekend of September 13-14. And, while the full impact will not be understood for months, there is no doubt that a devastating financial hurricane ripped through the heart of US financial systems that weekend.
Last week I was in Kenya. The troubles and violence of January 2008 have subsided since the opposing political parties stitched together a workable compromise in the Parliament. A sense of national unity has arisen out of the shame of the six weeks of mayhem that took place early in 2008. Every day Kenyans are still recovering from the shock that such naked...
If you are reading this commentary, it means that the world did not end on September 10, 2008. Why that date? It's the day that European Organization for Nuclear Research switched on the Large Hadron Collider under the border of France and Switzerland.
Another September 11 anniversary has come and gone. It is a day when our country cannot help but recall the horrific attack we suffered seven years ago. As we all surrounded our television screens watching smoke pouring out of the Twin Towers and the Pentagon in attacks that eventually cost some 3,000 lives, we came to the realization that something had changed.