So. Our Congress critters are concerned about jobs and the economy. A few innocent questions:

1. Consider the minimum wage. If I cut it in half, I can hire twice as many people for low skilled positions. So then, does increasing or decreasing the minimum wage increase employment? If the answer is decreasing, how long will it take our Democratic dominated beltway to remember this?
2. I’d support eliminating a national minimum wage in favor of a international one. Currently that would set the minimum wage at what, about $1 per diem. Perhaps a push for an Kyoto-like international accord moving that to $3 or so would push more money to the actual poor in the world instead of the relatively wealthy poor in this country.
3. How long will it take for the current Democrats in the Beltway to forget that welfare reform worked and return to the welfare policies that destroyed our inner cities in the 60s?

1. As the Administration tacks limits on salaries … they might look to their own profligate wasteful spending as well.
2. A cancerous parable.
3. Christian martyrs in 16th century Japan remembered.
4. Africa and an aid (not AIDS) pandemic. Read the Bottom Billion.
5. A Protestant hesychast? If he starts talking about “the Taborite light” that will really give him away.
6. If you can’t find a man with integrity find a man with ambition … Obama or Grave’s Caligula?
7. Stimulus to get behind.
8. That rap be really bad .. no not just bad but really really horrible.
9. Elitism in politics starts young. No sir, you’re just not qualified to run?
10. The Christian carnival.
11. Spending and the current downturn. So, if spending isn’t the problem … why would stimulus fix that?
12. Global persecution and the Christian faith.
13. A case for blogging.
14. Why I’m not in politics … I like cookies. And cake too.
15. Road signs not just for zombies anymore.
16. Another view of the stimulus.
17. Science fiction and politics a continuing series. I wonder if the Dorsai stories enter into discussions of war at some point.
18. Politics and fear mongering. The left complained about the Bush Administration doing that … Will they defend it when it’s coming from their camp?
19. Are high tension lines and step up/step down transformers too confusing … cause with all that copper up there, I don’t think they are more expensive.
20. Obama and abortion … is he stupid or evil (my paraphrase of the beginning of the last paragraph)?
21. Luck.

1. Fire … in Chicago.
2. If right, perhaps it’s too bad that it will happen before any stimulus bill’s effects really kick in. But then that bill isn’t about stimulus … it’s about paving the road to serfdom.
3. A wicked woman.
4. Treason?
5. Risk and banking.
6. Lots about Doug (I also played AH strategy games a lot when I was younger).
7. One … getting less excited about the next Star Trek film.
8. A man’s passing noted.
9. St. Maximus.
10. A question asked … my answer … “Well, that’s because their parents are very rich and influential.”
11. A Marine in Anbar on the election.
12. From back when “be a man” had meaning.
13. Hmm.
14. A suggestion … simplify taxes … no no really really simplify them.
15. A leftist arguing in bad faith … that conservatives are acting in bad faith.
16. Art … from China.
17. Math tricks.
18. Color me unsurprised.
19. Medical ethics or the lack thereof.

Celibacy. A word used with fear and trepidation in our sex-drenched society. A common notion amongst (perhaps liberal or is it also Protestant?) some Christians is that celibacy is a calling. And that it is but few that are called. Parenthetically, the remark might be added that is is confusing to myself as to why the calling has evaporated in modernity and in the Protestant West … but not elsewhere. However, that is not the main point that I’m going to make tonight. Celibacy is not a “calling for the few” for the Christian. It is a universal calling. All Christians are called during times of their life to celibacy. From puberty until marriage … we are called to be celibate. When we travel apart for work or otherwise … we are called to be celibate.

Jesus remarks at one point when his disciples fail to cast out a demon, “that sort of demon can only be removed through prayer and fasting” … St. Paul counsels that married couples should fast from sexual activity (in a manner of speaking) only when they mutually agree. This seems to imply strongly as well that such celibate periods within marriage are beneficial to spiritual growth. The larger church accepted this idea quite universally, East and West, and this held until a few centuries ago but has dissolved in the modern era.

So … my question is the following. Where is there a defense of the notion that celibacy is a calling for the few? Where is defense of the abandonment of monasticism and single celibacy as a calling?

Pro-choice, the Madison avenue euphemization for by the pro-abortion crowd is on some reflection an odd choice of terminology. The word “heresy” comes from the Greek hairesis (haireomai, “choose”), and means either a choice of beliefs or a faction of dissident believers. Pro-heresy might be an interesting alternative phrasing. Relabeling is in vogue these days, where it is common for those with the bully pulpit to recast the opponents and terms to favor their cause, which perhaps is why Mr Obama is trying to identify Mr Limbaugh as a conservative leader. If turnabout is fair play, perhaps recasting pro-choice as pro-heresy might help the pro-life cause within the liberal Christian community.

When making arguments one must consider one’s audience. When convincing a secular audience that one should rely on secular arguments, which is the primary place in which these arguments are taking place these days. If on the other hand, one is speaking to a Christian community, then Christian argument and theology should be used. Rarely however it seems to me does the pro-heresy community attempt to cast their arguments for abortion in the light of Christian tradition and theology. And for good reason … because Christian tradition and theology has stood against abortion for almost 2 millenia. Read the rest of this entry

1. Ben Myers lists 10 virtues for theology students, although looking at his list of virtues I’m not sure why students needs qualification.
2. Not impressed with TIME.
3. Dan asks why?
4. Wei Hsien on St. Ephrem on Jonah.
5. He didn’t just do it once but it looked like after every play … and if you watched his lips I think he was saying “Lord have mercy” … a phrase used more than once in Orthodox liturgy.
6. Consumer reports … little (motor) bikes.
7. An early look at USB 3.0.
8. A mythic conversation.
9. Huh?
10. Right left and … youth?
11. Witness and the hand grenade.
12. Imperial clothing … or Mr Daschle and the promise of “no lobbyists.”
13. Will it catch on?
14. Girls. Bikes. What’s not to like? (HT: Jussi)

1. Quantum computer as reality … a problem.
2. I don’t think his hermeneuticalness is a word … but perhaps it should be.
3. Prison and Islam.
4. Parody or not?
5. The Hybrid-Starfish and church. Huh?
6. A homily.
7. A power “behind the throne?”
8. Metropolitan Jonah addresses the crowd.
9. Homophobe … the weasel word for the day.
10. St. Maximus and hospitality via ontology.
11. That Brazilian hasn’t been to Chicago yet.
12. Obama and the tyrant.
13. Netflix’s next move?
14. Computer nerds through the ages.
15. CAIR.
16. A film reviewed: Taken.
17. The revolving door and the Democratic party.
18. Of course not.
19. Libs against Dashle, one and two. And a view from the right.
20. Hair, puns and nationality.
21. Why is Obama singling out Rush? One view.

1. An economist looks at the numbers for Q4, here and here.
2. A thought experiment, the pork bill, and the election.
3. Large scale math, a social experiment.
4. RAM expands.
5. Carbon and economic expansion … not what you’d expect. Also examine this goofy statement by a Berkeley commission … are they insane?
6. From the “hate filled” religious right … or “If you do not love your enemies then you do not know God.”
7. Brrr … horse’s ass version.
8. It might not be just corruption … the economic downturn might have a big part too.
9. Consequences of not turning to the desert.
10. Italian Job a solution.
11. Islam in Brussels.
12. Popular cinema, the Old Testament God, and a question.
13. Mr Obama’s thermostat problem, or yet another carbon hypocrite.
14. Meaning and text.
15. Let your “yes be yes”.
16. From Sirach.
17. Big, bad and beautiful.
18. Euthenasia and Montana.
19. Modern “lovers of wisdom” … are not exactly lovers of wisdom.
20. Grrrrrr.
21. A book recommended. Another.
22. Life after fame.

1. David’s cancer events/story continues to unfold.
2. Geek games.
3. If the progressives want to claim credit, blame must also follow.
4. A film noted.
5. A discussion of Islam and conversation.
6. In name at least.
7. What “hoping he fails” looks like.
8. Brrrrr.
9. Cosmos.
10. Stimulus, billions for ACORN, hmm.
11. Netflix reminisces.
12. Candid camera.
13. Comparison … possible media bias?
14. Party lines.
15. Le Tour … of Missouri.
16. Moving of goalposts. I wonder why we aren’t coining the influx of new troops into Afghanistan as a surge?
17. Forgetting innocent until proven guilty.
18. The more I hear about it, the more I think the “stimulus” package should be called the porkulous stuffsack.
19. Jails … worse for women … because of the other women.

Why St. Ephraim. Today is his feast day. Today, centuries ago, St. Ephrem fell asleep with the Lord. For me, just under two years ago, on the Saturday before Pascha I was chrismated and became an Orthodox Christian. Part of the process also entailed choosing a patron Saint, who for native Orthodox persons was chosen at your birth and that is normally also your given name. I had spent some months considering and reading about various Saints. Some of whom I had read somewhat extensively prior even witnessing an Orthodox liturgy. The choice of which Saint I might select was difficult. St. Mark was one choice, gospel author and witness to the Coptic peoples … and my first name is Mark (the patron Saint is sometimes called your “name” Saint as that is the name by which you are referred to at Eucharist).

Some of those I considered were:

• St. John Cassian’s writings powerful and thought provoking.
• St. John Chysostom’s homilies are also were accessible to modern sensibilities.
• Metropolitan John Zizioulas wrote powerfully about the cosmic ontological theology of St. Maximus the Confessor echoed many centuries later by secular philosopher Sartre.
• and St. Theophan the Recluse a Russian monastic and Bishop of the 19th century.

But … throughout Lent, through the poetic piercing stanzas of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete and in the presanctified liturgies and Vespers services always ending every service was the Lenten prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian:

O Lord and Master of my life!

Take from me the spirit of sloth,
faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk.

But give rather the spirit of chastity,
humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.

Yea, Lord and King! Grant me to see my own errors
and not to judge my brother,
for Thou art blessed unto ages of ages. Amen.

Many have talked and written about this prayer. Fr Schmeman wrote a little book, Great Lent, which talks about it at some length. But remembering that prayer, I looked at St. Ephrem’s body of work and found it extensive … and almost all of it Psalmody. St. Ephrem is referred to by some as the Psalmodist of the New Testament, where King David was the Psalmist of the Old Covenant. And psalm and psalmody connects with me through music. I am not a poet. But music, harmony and polyphony, chant and song connect. My harmony teacher in college often remarked that those in math and physics often did the best in music because of connections between music and mathematics. Between the prayer above, the music connection, and St. Ephrem’s life of asceticism, prayer, and example … my choice was made.

This book, Spiritual Psalter or Reflections on God, has a collection of prayers penned by St. Ephrem, translated and collated after the manner of the Psalms of David by St. Theophan the Recluse. This latter book is something of an scandal in my opinion. It is virtually unknown in the West … but should be in every Christian home and in every pew or prayer corner. The crime is that it is not a Christian best-seller only superseded by the Bible. Those prayers in that book, some of which you can find excerpted and remarked upon by me here … read like they were written about me, to me, for me by St. Ephrem. And I found this book months after having chosen St. Ephrem (or perhaps being chosen by St. Ephrem).

1. The Onion noted at the Corner.
2. A big day of remembering Saints/Doctors of the Church. East, West, and Evangelical.
3. Setting the record straight.
4. Quoth many a tyrant, if not so outspoken about it.
5. Perhaps a group to watch.
6. Very close.
7. Mr Updike’s passing noted.
8. A Roman liturgy blog looks East.
9. A question not answered.
10. I’m thinking … hopefully March not tomorrow.
11. On that “right to choose” thing.
12. Our Southern border.
13. Well, I have to agree, I hope Mr Obama fails at much of what he hopes to accomplish. I have no yearning for a precipitous slide (slouch) down the Road to Serfdom, as it were.
14. Discussing the bike design contest winner.
15. Another big day noted … the ending of 900 days.
16. Keeping the banks afloat … laundry?
17. Axios indeed.
18. Monasticism looked at frankly.
19. Some statistics, if you believe that sort of thing is worth the paper it’s written on.
20. Why big projects today aren’t “shovel ready” … that would be, uhm, obstruction from the left. Put that in your stimulus pipe and smoke it.
21. Nero’s political trajectory, dates, and St. Paul’s Romans.
22. When Gay bashing is mostly from the left.
23. More on the SSPX reconciliation … more here.
24. Moscow.
25. Heh.
26. Spector dissed … for doing exactly what I’d advised (and done).
27. A Silver Star.

Apparently, via Mr Kerr at the Volokh Conspiracy, that the “crack baby” epidemic wasn’t all it was, uhm, cracked up to be. I beg to differ, based on small amounts of personal experience. 14 or so years ago, my #1 daughter, having just been born, spent 3-4 weeks in the neo-natal ICU because of duodenal webbing blocking her intestine and then, as well (possibly related) having some facial reconstruction done due developmental anomalies. The point is that we spent some amount of time spending nights in the wards at the Chicago Children’s Hospital. Some number of kids were there each time with a particular screeching cry. I’ve heard that scream. It’s was identifiable and related as a symptom of that exposure. We were specifically informed by the nurses on staff that these kids were damaged by parental drug abuse during pregnancy. These kids were also not all infants but ranging in age up to about 4. Now it might be that “long term” the effects of this early developmental damage may fade, but … I don’t believe it.

First, conventional wisdom has it that nutrition in the first years of life has long term effects down the road, for bodily and intellectual development. For example, a main reason that people are a foot taller on average than they were 200 years ago is because of childhood nutrition. Is neo-natal development and environment not important?

Second, one of my wife’s cousins is going through the adoption process of a special needs infant. What makes that child special needs? Natal exposure to drugs like cocaine.

Is that conventional wisdom all wrong. I guess I’ll my life will be touched by someone who is not a statistical entry.

1. Choosing one’s passing, heh.
2. Of Daphny van den Brand.
3. Now that’s what I call short term thinking … increase debt to decrease the population and thereby decreasing the numbers of those who will be paying down that debt in the future. And it’s not just Ms Pelosi pushing that tale.
4. Speaking of demographics … why is Europe committing demographic suicide?
5. Popular Culture meets philosophy.
6. Barack on spending.
7. I’ve always ended that prayer “a sinner” not “a servant.” I wonder if that’s how some teach it to kids.
8. Heh. (literally)
9. I’m with him 100% on that first one. And I like a lot of other Kubrick films.
10. Benedict, the church and the SSPX bishops … it’s not “about anti-Semitism” but is also badly handled “PR.”
11. Will the economic stress fracture the Euro?
12. Stopping sans brakes.
13. Stimulus bill = “the worse bill in galactic history?”
14. For the girls (a book).
15. A good question, “what kind of person takes Che for a hero?” … or Mao? Or Lenin?
16. Hmm, media bias perhaps?
17. Patriotism, two posts (here and here), I was going to write a whole essay last night on these two. I think Mr Brayton and Mr Beinhart don’t get it at all and prefer instead to demonize or trivialize views of the “other” … which is by and large far easier.
18. So, CO2 caused the tsunami?

What would my course be if I were one of the 100 Senators voting for confirmations for Mr Obama’s Presidency. My result may come as a surprise, being as I am a member of the loyal opposition, that I would vote to confirm. Don’t get me wrong, I would advise that many of these appointees are regrettable choices and will do more harm than good to the country and to his administration. Take Mr Geithner and Mr Holder for example. Both I think have lied about the past issues on which they were questioned. I think Mr Geithner withheld taxes knowingly and it is likely that Mr Holder was a willing participated in the pardons-for-cash (and favors) and suggesting Mr Rich during the embarrassing pardon spree at the end of Mr Clinton’s term in office.

However … Federalist paper 76 is clear and I think in fact right. When the Senate intrudes too much into the appointment process then the dangers of which Mr Hamilton warns are evident by the disastrous confirmation proceedings we’ve seen in the last decades when such advice was ignored. A primary example of this is Justice Thomas. The reasons for rejection suggested by Hamiton were:

It would be an excellent check upon a spirit of favoritism in the President, and would tend greatly to prevent the appointment of unfit characters from State prejudice, from family connection, from personal attachment, or from a view to popularity.

That is not the case with either candidate … therefore, I it were up to me I would vote to confirm … even though I think they have considerable talents for prevarication being demonstrated, oddly enough, in these confirmation hearings.

1. A suggestion for an econ primer.
2. A rising tide.
3. The New Martyrs.
4. If … there are no earmarks in the “stimulus package” why is ACORN expecting dough? And what is that expected to “stimulate?” In other news … why are bridges and roads always mentioned along with the earmark, err, stimulus bill if it’s such a small part of it?
5. Of celibacy and the early church … laity.
6. A Sunday homily courtesy of Mr Daniels.
7. Tweeet. Wheee … and other celebratory noises.
8. An evangelical remembers St. Gregory.
9. An Amen! offered.
10. Or perhaps it’s not all about you. Mr Schraub notes … “I think institutional Christianity has long since proven that its default position is of hostility to Jews.” which of course explains perfectly the rise of Antisemitism in Europe (see #2 above) as institutional Christianity wanes.
11. Of making oaths under false pretenses.
12. Virtual fraud.
13. Another Sunday homily … this from from Mr Weedon.
14. So … remind me why this guy is exemplary?
15. Why I ride a road bike (disturbing image … be warned).
16. A quiet voice in a cave?
17. The UAW and why in an economic downturn support of the unions is not in our best interest.
18. Mr Colson roils the waters.
19. 2010 … better or worse than today?
20. A great cathedral noted.
21. Or … faith groups don’t read the fine print.
22. That change we can believe in … or not.
23. A magazine released.
24. Today’s economy in perspective.
25. Obama as Palpatine?