Moral Philosophy, and some pragmatism
The objective was to install a regime more congenial to North American and European interests, which in the view of the perpetrators included being friendly to Israel. What they got was social collapse and a horrific civil war, followed by a regime more friendly to Iran. There are a couple of points that might make a minor moral distinction between this war crime and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. One is that the majority of the Iraq population did want an end to the Saddam Hussein regime, although they invaders didn ' t really understand anything about Iraq and in particular that there wasn ' t any common national ident...
Source: Stayin' Alive - February 28, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
XRHealth Secures $10M in Funding to Expand Virtual Reality Healthcare Treatment in the Metaverse
Funding Backed by HTC, Bridges Israel, AARP, Crowdfunding on StartEngine.com, and existing investors XRHealth, the gateway to the healthcare metaverse, announced today that they raised $10M in funding to expand virtual healthcare treatment in the Metaverse. The funding was backed by HTC, Bridges Israel impact investment fund, AARP, and crowdfunding on StartEngine.com and existing investors. “Together, we’re taking […] (Source: EMR and HIPAA)
Source: EMR and HIPAA - February 28, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Healthcare IT News Tags: Health IT Company Healthcare IT IT Infrastructure and Dev Ops AARP Bridges Israel Cher Wang Crowdfunding Eran Orr Gal Hayut Health IT Funding Healthcare Virtual Reality Healthcare VR Healthcare XR HITC Metaverse XRHealth Source Type: blogs
Sunday Sermonette: Yet more of that good old Biblical morality
We ' re getting to the end of Samuel: just four more chapters after this. But it doesn ' t get any less ugly. In this chapter David shuts his concubines up in the house because they ' ve been raped. I don ' t know if they ' re particularly put out that he doesn ' t have sex with them, but the idea is that women who have been raped are spoiled. Since these women are already slaves, however, it ' s not that big of a change in status. There ' s yet another rebellion, but this one seems to depend entirely on the individual who incites it. Once they get rid of him, they ' re all set. And Amasa gets murdered in a very cowa...
Source: Stayin' Alive - February 27, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Wednesday Bible Study: The Return of the King
But unlike Tolkein, it ' s not the triumph of good over evil. I wouldn ' t want any of these assholes for a king. This chapter is confusing, and it has a couple of sub-plots of no particular relevance. As usual, the scribe has evidently cobbled together material from various sources without much concern for continuity. This begins with David mourning Absalom and quite evidently not giving a shit about the army that brought him victory. So Joab sets him straight and tells him to stop his whining and accept his responsibility. 19 It was told Jo ′ab, “Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Ab′salom.”2&...
Source: Stayin' Alive - February 23, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Sunday Sermonette: Physical impossibility
Much is puzzling about 2 Samuel 18. The first is David ' s decision not to lead his troops into battle, but to stay behind. The rationale is that if the troops flee, Absalom ' s men won ' t pursue them if David isn ' t with them. It seems a very strange decision to accede in that way to his troops ' cowardice. I don ' t know what to think about David ' s continuing concern for Absalom, who has usurped his throne, spent two years trying to kill him, and set up a tent so he could rape David ' s concubines in public. But I suppose a father ' s love knows no bounds. I am completely baffled, however, by how Absalom gets hu...
Source: Stayin' Alive - February 20, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Wednesday Bible Study: Pretzel Logic
Chapter 17 features David ' s spy Hushai giving what is purported to be bad advice to Absalom, which God causes Absalom to accept because God has evidently decided to give the kingdom back to David. Well okay but Ahithophel ' s advice is to attack with 12,000 men, whereas Hushai ' s advice is to attack with the entire army, which is evidently much larger. Why an attack with a larger force will fail, whereas an attack with a smaller force will succeed, is kind of hard to understand.Anyway Ahithophel thinks that Hushai ' s plan will fail, so he kills himself. There ' s a lot of detail about who is put in charge of what and t...
Source: Stayin' Alive - February 16, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Sunday Sermonette: They don't teach this in Sunday school
And you aren ' t likely to hear a sermon preached on it either. Before we get to the really weird shit, a reminder that Mephibosheth is Jonathan ' s son and Saul ' s grandson, who was dropped by his nurse and made lame. David brought him to Jerusalem and gave him an estate. Mephibosheth ' s son is Micah, and apparently that ' s who David inquires after; but why Micah ' s defection to Absalom costs Mephibosheth is estate is not explained.The second incident is also a bit mysterious. David decides to put up with a guy cursing him and throwing rocks at his party. Basically, David says " Who cares, that ' s the least of our wo...
Source: Stayin' Alive - February 13, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
When we see ourselves as mere mortal animals, creative pursuits may help to assuage a fear of death
By Emma Young
How similar do you think humans are to other animals? The answer might reveal more than you think: according to new research, people who perceive themselves as being more similar to other animals are more likely to care about being creative, and to engage with the arts. Why? It’s all to do with how we manage death anxiety, argue Uri Lifshin at Reichman University, Israel, and colleagues, in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
We all know that at some point, sooner or later, we are going to die. It’s not exactly an uplifting thought. According to Terror Management Theory, to assuage deat...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - February 11, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Creativity The self Source Type: blogs
Wednesday Bible Study: Legitimate Political Discourse
Well, it kind of is. Absalom manages to usurp the throne basically by becoming more popular than David. But there a lot of plot twists in this. I ' ll make comments along the way.15 After this Ab ′salom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.This first sentence seems a non-sequitur.2 And Ab ′salom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate; and when any man had a suit to come before the king for judgment, Ab′salom would call to him, and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,”3 Ab ′salom woul...
Source: Stayin' Alive - February 9, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Sunday Sermonette: Let the complications begin
I believe I said previously that there are many twists and turns to the whole Absalom story. I believe it will be helpful to summarize the plot of Ch. 14. For unexplained reasons, Joab decides that he wants David to recall Absalom from exile for killing Amnon. Note that it isn ' t clear why Absalom is in exile in the first place since the previous chapter says that David isn ' t really holding it against him.Anyway, Joab hatches an elaborate plot to get David to agree that he should forgive a man for killing his brother, and then spring it on him that ergo, he should forgive Absalom. David figures out that this...
Source: Stayin' Alive - February 6, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
The Jerusalem Declaration on Ageing 2020
Sarah Harper (University of Oxford), Israel Issi Doron (University of Haifa), The Jerusalem Declaration on Ageing 2020, J. Population Ageing (2021): The Anglo-Israel Colloquium in November 2019, Jerusalem, was a collaboration including Jewish and Arab-Israelis, Palestinians, and British participants arranged... (Source: HealthLawProf Blog)
Source: HealthLawProf Blog - February 5, 2022 Category: Medical Law Authors: Katharine Van Tassel Source Type: blogs
Wednesday Bible Study: X-rated
Chapter 13 features an incestuous rape and fratricide. It also launches the story of Absalom, which through many twists and turns eventually dissolves Israel in civil war and anarchy, until order is restored in the end. This will take up many chapters, so be warned. The immediate story of Chapter 13 tells you everything you need to know about the status of women in Israeli society.13 Now Ab ′salom, David’s son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar; and after a time Amnon, David’s son, loved her.2 Well no, he didn ' t " love " her, he just lusted after her. To be clear, Tamar is Amnon ' s half-sister...
Source: Stayin' Alive - February 2, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Sunday Sermonette: Sin and Honor
Basically four things happen in Chapter 12. God sends a messenger, Nathan, to tell David it was bad for him to get Uriah killed and take his wife. Nathan threatens, on behalf of God, to have David ' s wives raped in public. That ' ll teach him! Then he recants the threat and just says that God will kill David ' s and Bathsheba ' s baby. God does kill the Baby. David and Bathsheba have another baby, who will be David ' s successorThe Israelites conquer the Ammonites and enslave them. David gets a new crown (which by the way weighs about 62 pounds).That ' s biblical morality.12 And theLord sent Nath...
Source: Stayin' Alive - January 30, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Wednesday Bible Study: The worst person in the world
God loves it when David is slaughtering and raping and enslaving people who aren ' t Israelites, but now David does something God doesn ' t like. I do agree it ' s really bad. In a nutshell, he sees a woman he fancies, he rapes her and gets her pregnant, then he tries to get her husband to have sex with her so the pregnancy won ' t be suspicious, and when that doesn ' t work, he has the guy killed. Then he marries the woman, which is another way of saying he rapes her whenever he wants since she obviously has no choice in the matter. So yeah, this displeases the Lord. BTW, the RSV headline for this chapter is " ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - January 26, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Sunday Sermonette: A big misunderstanding
In Chapter 10, more than 47,000 Syrians get themselves killed, along with an undisclosed number of Ammonites, because of some minor stupidity. Reminds me of theWar of Jenkins Ear. Anyhow ---10 After this the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead.2 And David said, “I will deal loyally with Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father dealt loyally with me.”This refers to a previously unmentioned incident. The only previous reference to Nahash was in 1 Samuel 11, while Saul was King, when Nahash threatened to gouge out the right eye of all the men of Jaeshgilead. Nice guy!So D...
Source: Stayin' Alive - January 23, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
