October 2009 - David Westerfield

Are You Ashamed of Your Beliefs, Mr. Scientologist?

On October 30, 2009

Shhhh …. it’s a secret. I didn’t quite catch what exactly Tommy Davis was offended by in this video, so offended it was worth walking out on an interview, being interviewed by someone who was not being offensive at all with his questions. If the answer to the question is no, that’s not correct, just say so. If yes, well, just say so. What’s the deal?

So are you offended by distortions of your beliefs, Mr. Davis? Then why not tell the interviewer that those are distortions? Or … are you offended they would ask about things that are supposed to be secret, but were leaked and are now public, and you are actually ashamed of those beliefs and won’t discuss them with ‘outsiders’? Why are you so defensive? Why is your organization so litigious? Mr. Davis, an official spokesman for Scientology, is quite the apologist for his faith, or rather, (let’s call it what it is) cult.

Copenhagen Climate Change Showdown

By David Westerfield

On October 28, 2009

In Environment, Politics, Video

The stakes in the climate change/global warming debate are getting raised to levels many of us should really be concerned about now. As if the cap and trade/tax bill wasn’t enough to cause concern for the stability of our economy, there is now a treaty to be signed in Copenhagen at a UN meeting. Some are saying it would cede U.S. sovereignty and accountability to a global government who would essentially be in charge of redistributing wealth from the Western world to third world countries as a sort of penance for our assumed climate crimes.

Many are speaking out on this issue. On the one hand you have the skeptics, such as myself, whose voices are growing, even from within the scientific community (700 dissenting scientists from within the IPCC), who are very concerned about the real intentions of this treaty. On the other hand, you have those, such as Al Gore and the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, who are boldly saying we are all in agreement, all on the same page concerning the evidence as well as what needs to be done.

For the Sake of My Family: Marriage – Piper and Taylor

By David Westerfield

On October 27, 2009

In Theology

Excerpt from What God Requires, Christ Provides by John Piper and Justin Taylor

I have a family to care for. My marriage must survive and thrive for the good of our children and the glory of Christ. God designed marriage to display the holy mercy of Christ and the happy submission of his church (see Eph. 5:21-25). Here the doctrine of justification by faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ can be a great marriage saver and sweetener.

Marriage seems almost impossible at times because both partners feel so self-justified in their expectations that are not being fulfilled. There is a horrible emotional dead end in the words, “But it’s just plain wrong for you to act that way,” followed by “That’s your perfectionistic perspective” or “Do you think you do everything right?” or by hopeless, resigned silence. The cycle of self-justified self-pity and anger can seem unbreakable.

Is That a Threat? Chicago-style Politics Heating Up

By David Westerfield

On October 24, 2009

In Politics

And it’s just getting started. Moderates and independents thought conservatives were just being partisan (certainly many were to be fair) when we were explaining what the nation was getting with an Obama/Chicago-style administration. It’s not a joke, nor is it mere politics. They mean business. If you’re not with them, you’re against them and thus become a target of ridicule, official scorn and marginalization.

In reference to Fox News, White House officials had these things to say (emphasis mine):

SharePoint Conference 2009 Live Blogging

By David Westerfield

On October 20, 2009

In Technology

We’ll see how this goes … Just giving it a try. Also, I’ll occasionally be streaming audio, but it’s spotty and sometimes the wireless signal isn’t strong so it drops … but if you want, you can attempt to listen here: http://www.westerfunk.net/radio/player/

Huxley’s Assessment Proving to be Correct More Everyday

By David Westerfield

On October 15, 2009

In Culture, Politics

If Aldous Huxley were still alive, I can’t help but think that he would say, “Told you so,” except with a longer, deeper explanation of how his vision of the future was coming to pass in ways he predicted and ways he couldn’t have foreseen … all in his quaint, British accent of course. The methods cited above, being employed by this administration to “educate” the public in this new postmodern version of collectivism, are striking, and in light of Huxley’s assessment kind of chilling and ominous concerning the precedent being set for the future.

We’re certainly not to the final end-point Huxley describes as the Final Revolution, but good grief. Some of the things being employed by this administration are some of the exact methods described by Huxley that are now being employed on a large scale, just as he warned. They are intertwining government messages to service (as they have described this themselves here and here) with television shows! It may be this is purely benign at the moment, though it is clear they want to funnel you to government sponsored websites. What if such a method continues 10, 20 years down the road? What will that look like by then?

The Wall Street Crisis May Be Over, But The Real Economic Crisis Still Looms

By David Westerfield

On October 15, 2009

In Business, Economics, Video

(Update: to be fair, Bank of America did take a hit this past quarter)

In order to create incentive and get consumers’ as well as investors’ confidence back up to levels before the financial crisis started, it seems the media and their overlords, whoever they may be (I personally think Goldman, JPMorgan, BofA, et al. :] ), are intent on continuing to mask the reality of the actual crisis in the housing market and the broader market that is getting worse and apparently far from over, where there is an increasing amount of pain and hurt; something those very banks helped create and are profiting from now.

Case in point: foreclosures for the third quarter versus foreclosure filings year over year.

Foreclosures rise 5 percent from summer to fall – AP

“The number of households caught up in the foreclosure crisis rose more than 5 percent from summer to fall as a federal effort to assist struggling borrowers was overwhelmed by a flood of defaults among people who lost their jobs.”

Now while the above is certainly a true number and an accurate reading of the number of actual foreclosures for the third quarter, the reality going on behind the scenes can be seen in this article, which has come out on the same day as the last article:

U.S. Foreclosure Filings Jump 23% to Record in Third Quarter – Bloomberg

“U.S. foreclosure filings climbed to a record in the third quarter as lenders seized more properties from delinquent borrowers, according to RealtyTrac Inc.

A total of 937,840 homes received a default or auction notice or were repossessed by banks, a 23 percent increase from a year earlier, the Irvine, California-based seller of default data said today in a report. One out of every 136 U.S. households received a filing, the highest quarterly rate in records dating to January 2005.”

Discussion of a Financial Coup D’Etat on our Economy … on PBS

By David Westerfield

On October 14, 2009

In Business, Economics, Politics

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10092009/watch.html

(For the record, I do not necessarily agree with every view in this interview. As far as Moore is concerned, I agree with him concerning the assessment of the problems, that bankers (though I would add the government intertwined with the bankers) have created the problems. But I do not agree with his assessment that capitalism, as a theory, is the problem that perpetuated this crisis … bankers and big government are the problem.)

It stunned me this was aired on PBS with Bill Moyers, of all places: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10092009/watch.html … really worth watching. These are not some right-wing, gun-slingin,’ militia crazies from the boondocks. In this 20 minute interview, former IMF Chief Economist Simon Johnson and Rep. Kaptur (D-OH) discuss the likelihood that a financial coup d’etat has taken place in our economy. Very fascinating and startling. I never thought I would be hearing these things coming from the likes of PBS with Bill Moyers. Glenn Beck? Sure, you would expect that. But PBS? The conversation in the financial industry is taking a major turn now.