Are people of the twenty-first century too messed up to love one another, sacrifice for one another, or to mature in the presence of difficulty?
For modern marriages, three decades of therapeutic counselling trends are bearing destructive fruit. It's an ongoing revolt against maturity. Sanctification is today a foreign concept, even in the Evangelical world.
What do people count as relational wisdom today? Fighting for your own personal "rights"...and winning in the process. Perfecting clever snarkiness. Outdoing one another in selfishness. Juxtaposing personal dreams and ambitions against another's personal dreams and ambitions.
The way forward when life together gets unbearable? Grumble to a "counselor." Or, if you're tech-savvy, crowd source your therapy. Pour out all your grudges and aversions on the internet, in the guise of "getting a little perspective" [and advice from the mob.]
Today the internet mob is a feedback loop which has become a death spiral -- a chorus of voices calling for an end of humility, self-sacrifice and real sacrificial love. It's becoming a cultural tidal wave of perversity, strife and the separation of intimate friends. Proverbs 16:28
If you want a hundred people to tell you the easy way out, just hang out on Reddit, where you will be encouraged to give up, to stomp away, slam the door in anger on your way out, and to burn every bridge for any reconciliation. The mob on Reddit is spreading cultural cancer.
“I would say to my soul, O my soul, this is not the place of despair; this is not the time to despair in. As long as mine eyes can find a promise in the Bible, as long as there is a moment left me of breath or life in this world, so long will I wait or look for mercy, so long will I fight against unbelief and despair.”
-- John Bunyan
...to bomb Iran's energy network "back into the stone age," how will Iran respond?
Strategic jihad? Will they level central Washington with ten, explosive fifteen-passenger vans?
No, something far worse.
Iran announced today that it will strike the world’s most important energy facilities, located in Arab countries and Israel, all within range of Iran’s precision missiles, in response to any new US and Israeli strikes:
1. Ghawar Oil Field, Saudi Arabia, backbone of Saudi production, disruption puts 5%+ of world oil supply at risk
2. Abqaiq + Khurais, Saudi Arabia, 7M+ bpd throughput, world’s largest oil stabilization plant
3. Ruways Refinery + Zakum Oil Field, UAE, 2nd largest offshore oil field, 1M+ bpd
4. North Ghadir Gas Field + Ras Laffan LNG, Qatar, world’s largest gas field with 25% of proven reserves, 20% of global LNG trade
5. Burgan Oil Field, Kuwait, 67B barrel reserves, 2M bpd
6. Sitrah Refinery + Al-Mihaj, Bahrain
7. Leviathan + Tamar Gas Fields, Israel, ...
The Trump Administration has banned all new humanoid robots from China, which the FCC terms "unacceptable risks" to U.S. national security.
Many major robotic vacuum brands like Roborock and Ecovac are either based in China, or source parts from foreign countries — even iRobot's Roomba. Among other features, robot vacuums often have the ability to map your home, listen to conversations, and there have been security breaches that demonstrate the devices' vulnerabilities.
"Advanced robotic devices collect data that could be leveraged by malign actors to surveil Americans, enhance the capabilities of foreign intelligence services, or to remotely commandeer the robots," the FCC said. It cites several use cases for robots: guarding data centers and other "critical infrastructure" protection, manufacturing and "U.S. military dominance" that the FCC says illustrate the need to have a "secure domestic advanced robotics supply chain."
Earlier this year, the FCC banned imports of new ...