Tuesday, April 12th, 2011
CLOG110411.
Libya. Do we really think that grabbing control of Libya’s Oil Reserves will resolve the mess our (illustrious) bankers have made for us?
Banks. This morning I hear that more (illustrious) worthies have – no doubt at great cost – concluded that Commercial Banking (the old Building Society end of the business) and Investment Banking (Gambling but with other people’s money via their Pension Funds etc) should be separated – by a “Firewall” no less! Any small child could have told me that. Let the (Investment) Banks go to the Wall (Street)? Why not? “…but all our wonderful (at avoiding tax) bankers will leave London for sunnier climes”. Is there enough cloth in the country to make and display an appropriate number of flags?
Suzanna and Daniel. I’ve always regarded the Old Testament as a distraction from the New. Nevertheless, it’s true that, in order to fully appreciate the New, some access to the Old is useful. Today, for instance, the Gospel Reading was about “the Woman caught in Adultery – and facing death by stoning. About a month ago, I heard a senior (in UK) Dominican priest say that the scriptures should not be taken as “fundamentalist” writings. Instead, one should imagine oneself present at the situation described then be open to God’s revelation. I had concluded that when Christ wrote in the sand, he was drawing arrows at the accusers. After all, how had the woman been “caught in adultery”? One visitor must have stayed too long and/or the next arrived too early! However, in today’s complimentary Old Testament reading, Daniel shows that two false witnesses, when examined separately, have Suzanna under quite different types of trees. Christ wrote twice in the sand. I now think the first could have been outlines of the two types of tree. Then, as the New Testament accusers still didn’t appear to get the message, he spelled it out for them – writing “Daniel, chapter 13” – and they all withdrew. There’s something new in every verse, every time it is read!
Football. Don’t tell me the game couldn’t be cleaned up – public disorder on the pitch, financial excesses and irregularities related to the transfer market, the management of the sport at national and international levels. If the cameras show something the ref has missed, the result can stand but the miscreants can be brought to justice with really heavy fines appropriate to their incomes – a Meserati or a couple of Porches. This might make it easier to referee future games. Of course, with less mugging and cheating for the fans to cheer, we might expect proportionately more skill to be displayed. Sadly, those who manage the sport seem more interested in cash and kudos in than in gentlemanly conduct and consideration on the pitch (no problem with the ladies game – yet).
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