Good morning.

1. I recommend this article from today’s WSJ about the causes of the crisis, which of course would have consequences for what to do to prevent a repeat. Another article here.
2. Of risk and the past.
3. START.
4. Risk and behavior.
5. Art.
6. Gaming two party politics.
7. My #1 daughter, when she was about 1 or so, was absolutely terrified of men with beards and yes that meant Santa was very scary.
8. GS as smokescreen.
9. I was going to tag this as gender and driving, but it looks like to me she hit the accelerator when she meant to brake. Driving off however, was inexcusable.
10. Reset relations?
11. Cuteness, here and here, but not so much here.
12. A really really long winded way of saying, none (which isn’t to day the arguments given were not bad … but the question was sidestepped).
13. Modernity … stealing your Yoga when you’re not looking.

[I am working on a project that may become a book on the most influential evangelicals leaders of our generation, since 1976, and the impact they’ve had on the church and their times. I will introduce them briefly on this blog from time to time. Who should be on this list?]

#39 Andy Miller. Happy Salvationist b.1923

Until a deck collapsed at a suburban Atlanta outing in 1995–injuring a number of Salvation Army leaders, including the man they still call Commissioner–Andrew S. Miller bounced with the exuberance and optimism of young man, belying his 80 plus years. Andy Miller is a renowned former leader of The Salvation Army in the U.S., a denomination best known for its quaint Christmastime bells and kettles, the sum of which—-together with other fundraising—-makes the “Army” among the nation’s largest and wealthiest charities. Its ubiquitous social services are highly respected in America and around the world and, while its tightly organized personnel live modestly and its use of funds is above board, the group raises more than $3 billion annually and has U.S. assets worth more than $10 billion, buoyed by its church buildings, community centers, and alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers.

Few people know that the Army is primarily and at its core an evangelical church in the holiness tradition, with 1,200 congregations (called corps) in the U.S. It is a deeply conservative expression of Methodism, begun by disaffected Methodist minister William Booth and his wife Catherine in 1865 as an evangelistic outreach to the down and out in English cities. Its uniformed leaders rarely rise to the level of public recognition because at every level, from most junior officer (minister) to the international general, its leaders are rotated every few years. It’s a discipline introduced by Booth to guard against complacency. U.S. leaders (called national commanders) are no different, but in the modern era one national commander, Miller, stands above others because of his effervescent personality and his uncanny ability to connect “Sallies” to the outside world.

Andy Miller’s two strongest contributions to the evangelical movement: He is part of the leadership that has pursued a seamless connection of the church’s evangelistic and social service heritage. And he bucked the separatist impulse of the most conservative churches and reached out to secular leaders–at the same time he stroked the hair and provided food and shelter for the poorest of the poor.

Miller, who held many positions during his 47-year career and served as the national commander from 1986-89, made it a priority to maintain the church’s historic connection of evangelism and social service. He resisted bifurcation of the church and insisted that its social ministry must be evangelistic and its evangelism must include a social service delivery system. “When we do it right,” Miller said, “you can’t tell the difference.”

This breadth was captured in The Salvation Army’s longtime slogan: “Soup, Soap, and Salvation. There is ongoing concern that the social will eclipse the spiritual, and today some in the church are concerned that the national command’s recent approval of the more secular slogan “Doing the Most Good,” may signal that slide. That worry is magnified because the social service effort is so large and the church body that meets in worship each week is relatively small in the U.S.

Although the The Salvation Army’s work can be found in nearly every region of the country and in communities large and small, its people—particularly its staff and clergy–are relatively insulated from both secular culture and the larger evangelical church. Salvationists have traditionally found their worship, social interaction, church conferences, even summer camping and recreation within the denomination, and adherents have traditionally found their marriage partners within the group. These trends have shifted in recent years and the U.S. membership is stagnant, even as giving has increased—bucking national trends.

In the midst of this insular subculture, Miller had an expansive tenure that introduced the church to the powerful and influential of his time. He had a commitment to bear witness about Christ with at least one person every day. After telling President Reagan about this in a meeting, Miller was called back to the White House several weeks later. The President wanted to tell the Salvationist leader that he had taken the opportunity to witness to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in a face-to-face meeting. In private, Gorbachev told Reagan that his grandmother had him baptized as a young boy and that she had told him about Jesus.

Miller found ways to befriend powerful men as easily as others. He was an usher at Robert Kennedy’s funeral because he met and formed a friendship with the former U.S. Attorney General while jogging on the streets of New York City.

“He is a Salvation Army original,” his biography reads,” and at the same time a symbol of the Army, keeping the Army true to the Army, to its birthright and mission. His life story is the miracle of a bush that burned with fire and yet was not consumed.”

Good morning. Short list.

1. Dogs and the court.
2. I’m pretty sure the first sentence is hyperbole, but for now I’m drawing a blank for more egregious examples. 
3. A strange state.
4. TARP.
5. Credit crunching.
6. More pictures of that unpronounceable volcano. 
7. Reading suggestions.
8. An economic question.
9. I’m thinking that’s an oversimplification.

Good, err, day.

1. A cycling chick. Cycling? How?
2. UK NHS.
3. Prince Charles … and the Holy Mountain?
4. April 18 some years back.
5. A suggestion. Duh. Yet, that notion will take decades to sink in at the beltway.
6. Of India and Maoists.
7. A reading list. Suggestions … or what would you read?
8. Public finance.
9. Somebody misses obvious use of irony … and calls it “dumber”. Yes it’s dumb to not notice irony when its being used.
10. Ride a bike, ride a bike, ride a bike … and racing with handicap.
11. A book suggested.
12. Integration.
13. Eruption, pictures here and here and here.
14. I’m missing the “weather is not reminder” standard caveat. Oh, its missing because its a warming event. Gotcha. 
15. Mr Clinton on tea parties, here and here and here.
16. The next step in the entitlement feeding-trough development.

Jim Finnegan, writing in the Naples (Florida) News, was responding to some folks who had commented on his original article on the Catholic Church priest child abuse cases.  Apparently, some folks read his words and though he was saying something directly opposite to them.  In his follow-up, he first had to give the obligatory disclaimers that he’s not excusing anyone, but he quoted some information that puts this all in perspective.

Charol Shakeshaft, a researcher of a little remembered 2004 study for the U.S. Department of Eduction [sic] on the physical sexual abuse of students in schools, pointed out " the physical sexual abuse of students in schools, is likely more than 100 times the abuse of Priests." I am sure this is easy to Google for the entire study should you wish.

Shakeshaft also pointed out that "nearly 9.6% of students are targets of educator sexual misconduct sometimes durin [sic] their school career." Creditable accounts of Priestly abuse occured [sic] from but 1.7% of the total Priests in the U.S. Thankfully, Shakeshaft’s study is now being revisited by news commentators seeking to restore some sense of proportion to the media’s aggressive coverage of the Catholic Church.

While Priestly sex abuse can never be mitigated by these figures, they do point out the gross imbalance, and bring question to the motives of the news media that are pouring resources into digging up decades old dirt on the Church. Sadly,the nerative [sic] that has been constructed is often less about the protection of the young (for whom the Catholic Church is, by empirical measure now the safest environment for young people in America today

Aside from Finnegan’s need for a spell checker, this does point out a stark double standard in play, by both liberals and the media (apologies for the repetition).  Just going by numbers, you’d think there would be more coverage about abuse in schools, which (if you don’t homeschool) have a mandatory attendance requirement, vs. church, which is entirely voluntary.  Not to mention the fact that the school abuse continues while…

The facts show that Priestly sex abuse is a phenomenon that spiked in the mid 1960’s into the 1980’s. This at the time that the "anything goes" sexual revolution began. These are the old cases that the media has chosen to resurrect in their recent attacks on the Church.

Again, none of this should be construed as excusing anyone of these horrible deeds.  But a little perspective is in order, and the media, since it goes against "the narrative", is simply not providing it. 

AP Photo/Icelandi Coastguard

Halldor Kolbeins/AFP/Getty Images

An Alternative Observation of Earth Day

 1.       In the face of slow action by humankind, God temporarily addresses global warming with volcanic ash that may lower worldwide temperatures for a time. 

2.       To provide an example of how people can slow down for a few days, God closes European airspace, dramatically reducing  consumption (and the burning of fossil fuel) and helping people observe the Sabbath.  

3.       Makes a dramatic statement:  The Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” Psalm  24:1. 

J

When windows are broken at the headquarters of a Democratic politician, it makes the news.  Racial epithets allegedly yelled at Congressmen (for which no actual evidence exists currently) get days of coverage.  But when Republican political operatives, leaving a Republican fundraiser, get beaten outside it and have bones broken, the MSM heaves a sigh of boredom and virtually ignore it.

Left wing blogs spring into action and report that the brutal attack was not politically motivated.  So, that explains the (lack of) media coverage?

To steal Limbaugh’s phrase, Andrew Breibart and company don’t need to be balanced by equal time.  They are equal time.  As Frank Ross says in his article:

Here we have a beautiful 26-year-old woman who has pins and screws keeping her leg together. We have her boyfriend with a broken jaw and nose. At what point does the media become a willing accomplice, through its silence and utter lack of curiosity, in these crimes?

When indeed?

Good morning.

1. Deadbeat dads, a screwed up law, how about some suggestions of how to fix it?
2. Heh.
3. So, what part is adiaphora what part is dogma/doctrine?
4. So, if the EU would not survive the breaking of the Euro … a question begs, would the US survive the breaking of the dollar?
5. Strunk and White … a birthday not celebrated (HT: Dr Platypus).
6. Art.
7. On Mr Obama’s recent memo.
8. Noting the left’s penchant for literalism.
9. A cricket race and confusion.
10. Five myths regarding the abuse scandal and the Roman church.
11. Making Maxwell symmetric.
12. The Democrats, just pretend this doesn’t happen.
13. My guess it that the left’s response to this is, “so what?” Although I think it also misses the big tax hikes in the middle.
14. Mr Clinton characterizes the current Administration.

In telegraphing their intentions to infiltrate yesterday’s Tea Party protests, Jason Levin and his comrades gave Tea Party proponents a chance to prepare to disavow, not just folks from "Crash the Tea Party", but even nuts from within their own ranks.  Armed with signs helpfully supplied by Andrew Breibart’s "Big Government" web site, protesters could get in front of the media coverage curve and completely deflate attempts to push the perception of the movement out of the mainstream.

And it seems to have worked.  And some people brought their own signs to out the provocateurs. 

But given the history of Tea Party coverage on the broadcast news networks, this was required, and I’m guessing these signs will now become a staple at protests.  Well, at least at conservative-leaning protests.  The liberal side of the aisle hasn’t said much about the socialists that find common cause with them, but now that a precedent has been set, it’ll be interesting to see if they follow suit and let us know who does and doesn’t speak for them. 

But a big "thank you" should go out to Jason Levin for alerting the protestors and allowing them to prepare.  One wonders that if Jason really believes the Tea Partier are a bunch of racist, homophobic morons, why would they need any help looking that way?  Perhaps the premise is fatally flawed.  Consider this.

It is a vital national security interest of the United States to reduce these conflicts because whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower, and when conflicts break out, one way or another we get pulled into them.

– President Obama

Guess what, Mr. President? We LIKE it (and we do not like the alternative).

Good morning.

1. Huh!?
2. Two tracks.
3. One man’s interpretation as genius. I think that’s perhaps a stretch.
4. Hurt rider.
5. That hockey stick.
6. Libertarianism considered.
7. ID spoofing a crime? Is that warranted or necessary? 
8. When to work out.
9. OK, I’m on board with NSF increases … so what’s getting cut?
10. Tea party as enemy.
11. A bet, and the staked items are clever.
12. Somebody noticed the CBO “scoring” is less than useful.
13. Technology, economics and fantasy fiction. 
14. While we do not “owe anything to the founding fathers” in a literal sense, political philosopher Bertrand de Jouvenel would argue that their authority is the basis of our state.
15. Tax game. An answer to make me shudder would be the salaries, pensions, and benefits of those ‘elected’ morons residing in the beltway and their staff. To make me smile try the Tevatron and … hmm … well, I’m still thinking about it.

Good morning.

1. Church and Institutional dangers.
2. Talking about the new Atheists.
3. Bush and Obama … some thoughts.
4. The last sentence is very cute.
5. One conspiracy theory not holding water, details here and here.
6. Praise for Mr Obama’s summit, the press not so much.
7. Academia leaning left.
8. Infection vs the mysterious.
9. Innumeracy and the pundit. Compare collateral damage during WWII and the Iraq war … order of magnitude make a difference.
10. Phenotypical differences between human cultural groups can have athletic or dietary consequences. To suggest cognitive consequences however is still right out.
11. Greece.
12. Tax day quotes.
13. A demonstration of how not to support your point.
14. Mr Beck is a fool.

A passage I read some time ago in Bruce Malina’s book (The Social World of Jesus and the Gospels) which considers anthropological research and its implications for New Testament hermeneutics and reading has been resurfacing on occasion over the last few weeks. I haven’t got it at hand for an exact quote, but basically it goes along with TANSTAAFL and some of the trade-offs we in our culture fail to acknowledge, in fact if correct, also points out some of the denial implicit in our coverage and reporting on Middle Eastern and, well, other cultures.

Here is the statement. Honor/Shame societies, which describe the culture in which 70% of the world exists today have a number of obvious contrasts with Western liberal societies. As we have seen in the last few centuries, market driven liberal societies have enormous capacity for economic growth when compared to honor/shame societies. However, TANSFAAFL comes into play. People in general are happier in an honor/shame environment. Suicide is markedly decreased and as well murder, rape and other such crimes of personal violence are far less common.

Our reporting today highlights and focuses on incidents of child marriage and abuse, the rapes and honor killings of close clan and family members over events which in our society be not an outrage. What they miss within our society (apparently) overall levels of murder and rape and likely even incest are far lower … as well as suicide and mental illnesses.

So, should I research this further? Find the quote, check his references, and dig for backup independent statistics? Or (what is more likely) even if true it wouldn’t matter. Well?

Yes, some folks weren’t paying attention and thought all this "free" health care was supposed to kick in the day after The Won(tm) signed it into law.  And now buyer’s remorse has hit.

Three weeks after Congress passed its new national health care plan, support for repeal of the measure has risen four points to 58%. That includes 50% of U.S. voters who strongly favor repeal.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters nationwide finds 38% still oppose repeal, including 32% who strongly oppose it.

But while those folks may just not have been fully informed, our Congress folk should certainly have been caught off guard.  That’s what we pay them for!  And yet…

It is often said that the new health care law will affect almost every American in some way. And, perhaps fittingly if unintentionally, no one may be more affected than members of Congress themselves.

In a new report, the Congressional Research Service says the law may have significant unintended consequences for the “personal health insurance coverage” of senators, representatives and their staff members.

For example, it says, the law may “remove members of Congress and Congressional staff” from their current coverage, in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, before any alternatives are available.

The confusion raises the inevitable question: If they did not know exactly what they were doing to themselves, did lawmakers who wrote and passed the bill fully grasp the details of how it would influence the lives of other Americans?

To answer that question, we look to other news items.  A few weeks ago, Congress was shocked — SHOCKED — to find companies writing off millions and billions in losses over a federal prescription medicine that was going away.  Companies are, by law, required to honestly represent their revenues and liabilities, but Democrats will have none of that, if it reflects poorly on their pet project.  But now, a lot of other shoes are starting to drop.  At the SayAnything blog:

A starting revelation on the Scott Hennen Show today from Rod St. Aubyn, Director of Government Relations for Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota.  St. Aubyn notes that under Obamacare, all polices offered in North Dakota must be approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and that this approval process will force BCBS to reduce its insurance offerings from over fifty different policies…to four.

(Audio at the site.)  And if you do get insurance, ObamaCare may be doing nothing about its cost.

Public outrage over double-digit rate hikes for health insurance may have helped push President Obama’s healthcare overhaul across the finish line, but the new law does not give regulators the power to block similar increases in the future.

And now, with some major companies already moving to boost premiums and others poised to follow suit, millions of Americans may feel an unexpected jolt in the pocketbook.

Advertisement

Although Democrats promised greater consumer protection, the overhaul does not give the federal government broad regulatory power to prevent increases.

And once you’ve paid for it, good luck finding a doctor.

Experts warn there won’t be enough doctors to treat the millions of people newly insured under the law. At current graduation and training rates, the nation could face a shortage of as many as 150,000 doctors in the next 15 years, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

That shortfall is predicted despite a push by teaching hospitals and medical schools to boost the number of U.S. doctors, which now totals about 954,000.

And if you do find a doctor, good luck finding a hospital.

The new health care overhaul law, which promised increased access and efficiency in health care, will prevent doctor-owned hospitals from adding more rooms and more beds, says a group that advocates physician involvement in every aspect of health care delivery.

Physician-owned hospitals are advertised as less bureaucratic and more focused on doctor-patient decision making. However, larger corporate hospitals say doctor-owned facilities discriminate in favor of high-income patients and refer business to themselves.

The new health care rules single out such hospitals, making new physician-owned projects ineligible to receive payments for Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Existing doctor-owned hospitals will be grandfathered in to get government funds for patients but must seek permission from the Department of Health and Human Services to expand.

All this and more (including increased taxes on those making less than $200,000) is summarized in a very informative Wall St. Journal op-ed.  Yeah, you can try to paint the WSJ as some right-wing editorial board, but they quote the NY Times, the LA Times; hardly bastions of conservatism. 

And so we go back to the question asked by the NY Times, "did lawmakers who wrote and passed the bill fully grasp the details of how it would influence the lives of other Americans?"  I think it’s pretty clear they didn’t. 

Good morning.

1. Healthcare, some glitches. Doctor shortages and a slight mistake/misreading. 
2. 10-6, an accounting dodge or was it about putting unpopular legislation into a distant (deniable) election cycle?
3. Anti-natalism discussed, I can’t think of any reason why anti-natalism is anything but really really dumb.
4. One reason why that is so … life is good -> see?
5. Coming together.
6. Mothers day (today!).
7. Being conservative, although citing 1950s isn’t helping the argument, that was over 2 generations ago.
8. A street not named desire.
9. Civil war.
10. Furry teeth.
11. For the Palin fans in the house.
12. The upside of our stupid overcomplicated tax code … voter rage. Perhaps we should move the tax deadline and elections to coincide datewise.
13. A password hint.