I wasn’t a big fan of Dubya’s faith-based initiatives.  Well, I was at first, but I was later convinced that, since whoever pays the bills makes the rules, that having government pay the bills was a bad  idea for churches.  It opened them up to having to do things their faith told them not to in order to keep the money coming in.

Of course, there’s another more general reason to avoid new government programs; they expand to fill whatever void the government finds; real or perceived.  And President Obama is busy looking for voids.

President Barack Obama on Thursday signed an order establishing a White House office of faith-based initiatives with a broader mission than the one overseen by his predecessor, Republican George W. Bush.

Obama said the office would reach out to organizations that provide help "no matter their religious or political beliefs."

Obama is calling his program the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

(I would have put this in another ChangeWatch entry, more of the same alleged "theocracy" that Bush was supposedly foisting on us, yet continued and expanded under Obama, but thought it could use its own post.)

I wasn’t aware of a doctrinal test for Bush’s faith-based initiative, but Obama is claiming credit for expanding the reach.  Nifty sleight of hand there.

But the most notable expansion of the program is the addition of the word "Neighborhood".  The partnerships are "faith-based and neighborhood", not "faith-based neighborhood", meaning the neighborhood partnerships don’t have to be faith-based.  This turns the program into an untargeted channel for any and all grassroots groups.  As Warner Todd Hudson notes, sounds like yet another vector for funds to ACORN. 

Hudson also wondered (last Saturday, when he wrote his piece) whether the Left, and the Kos krowd in particular, will give Obama a pass on this, unlike the screams of "church and state!" they gave Bush when he created it.  Well, as of today, if you search Daily Kos back two weeks for the phrase "faith-based", you get exactly one hit, and that article still raps the GOP for it.  Yeah, still OK if their guy does it.  It’s still all about politics.  Such blind partisanship.

1. A question of politics, “should the liberal state permit the existence of non-liberal communities?” I think so, but my argument will not fit in the margin of this page.
2. Well, those Keynesians in government voted themselves more power and got their panacea. Some more remarks here.
3. One more thing for schools to waste money on.
4. Time and church.
5. Napoleon, err, the Anglicans in Egypt.
6. Mr Wilders and “freedom” in the UK.
7. Verse.
8. Healthcare rationing and the stimulus bill is a cowardly way to avoid debate.
9. The Hindu Melkite.
10. An odd film noted and reviewed.
11. So Mr tax-fraud Geithner offers bank bailout version 2, or the fix for bad debt for the credit industry is to accumulate as much more bad debt as possible. Hair of the dog as very very expensive policy?
12. What if I am weak?
13. That “economic consensus” for the stimulus, alas exists only amongst politicians.
14. Two recent films compared.
15. In which yet another lefty discovers the bigotry is hers.
16. No, I have not.
17. A discussion of guilt, innocence and punishments and another (from the left) who just bought the argument hook line and sinker.
18. Epistemology and climate “science.”
19. The cross survives.
20. On fasting.
21. A cool video.
22. So, its been what, two weeks? After four years … one wonders how disillusioned the left will be?
23. If I had more money than I knew what do do with.

Many early Christians enjoyed number coincidences and used them in their prayers and writings. In that vein I offer some coincidences between our understanding of nature and Christian theology.

God in the Christian understanding is Three and One in Trinity. As Christ as well is both Man and God expressing two natures in one person.

Matter displaying wave and particle behavior having two natures in one. Furthermore, fundamental particles are deployed in three lepton and quark families respectively. With SU(3) of color (strong forces) and Gell-Mann’s eightfold way also the eight cardinal virtues and sins. Examine the forces in nature and we find there are three massless (gluon/strong, photon/electric, and graviton/gravity) and one with massive (weak/W&Z) … again the three and the one.

St. Augustine in his Confessions wrote that Nature worships God via our deepening understanding of it. Little did he know how well nature recapitulates theological ontology as the Standard Model post-dated St. Augustine by just a few years.

Then again, why does space have 10 dimensions? 😀

Preaching through the Ten Commandments, our pastor came to the 6th.  One of things I found fascinating is that there are quite a number of words for "kill" in Hebrew, and the King James translation doesn’t do much to get across this particular word.

Lo ratzach; don’t murder.

There is a word in Hebrew for killing an animal.  This is not that word.  You can be a vegetarian or vegan if you like, but you can’t use this verse as Biblical backup for your position.  (Actually, the Bible has a number of references showing that God’s OK with meat-eating.)

There is a word in Hebrew for killing in battle.  This is not that word.  You can be a pacifist if you like, but you can’t use this verse as Biblical backup for your position.  (Actually, the Bible has a number of references where God commands his people to make war on those God wishes to punish.)

There is a word in Hebrew for killing in self-defense or defense of another.  This is not that word.  You can be a police officer and kill someone in the line of duty while protecting yourself or others and you will not have broken this commandment.  You can protect an intruder with deadly force, and not be guilty of breaking this commandment. 

There is a word in Hebrew for the purposeful taking of an innocent life.  This is that word. 

Read the rest of this entry

1. Zap.
2. COIN and Afghanistan.
3. Snuck in the pork bill. Anti-stimulus stuff in there too.
4. Just a little permutation?
5. Philosophy boners.
6. Mr Polamalu and Orthodoxy, and she didn’t remark that it looks like he’s intoning “Lord have mercy” when he’s crossing himself.
7. The pork bill again, a serious question unanswered alas it seems thus far.
8. Heh.
9. In which I concur completely with the NYTimes.
10. Rugged individualism … or not.
11. Yah, nope. It is misleading, duh. I’d be getting over 110 mpg if I drove 40 mph with minimal stopping in my Insight.
12. For yer office or home.
13. Art and bike … and a ultra low carbon emissions SUV.
14. Shakespeare as crypto-catholic, a review.

Economists are by no means exclusively Keynesian (or more properly append a “neo” to be hip to that term), however our beltway denizens are almost to a man Keynesian. Climate scientists are not “settled” by any means on anthropomorphic causes for global warming but, again, politicians are. Why is this? It think the answer boils down to a logical fallacy hinging on simple psychology.

When your child has the flu the desire is to actively do something to combat the illness. After all, your kid is (gasp) sick and hurting. Some, but certainly not all, pediatricians will cater to this desire of the parent and prescribe antibiotics. Antibiotics have no effect on viral infections. But it gives the appearance of action. After all antibiotics fight diseases and your child has a disease. So, therefore there is some notion that the pill or potion is helpful. The real active palliative measures that should be taken in the case of flu is to provide rest and fluids, i.e., basically do nothing. That is a moral equivalent to “do nothing” for rest and fluids are the response taken in the case of any illness, be it bacterial (in which case antibiotics will help), or cancer, or other.

Similarly Keynesian economics offers to the government the notion that specific actions in the times of economic change are helpful. Do “X” in inflationary times, during recession provide “stimulus”. During economic expansion, act to curb growth (that one I really really don’t get). The point is these actions have two effects. They cater to two strong impulses that governments are vulnerable. The first is the above, it gives justification for action in the face of crises. It provides an explanation for why antibiotics might help the virus infected patient. The second is more pernicious. All governments for a variety of reasons find growth necessary and good. All of these actions provide reasons for larger and a more active central government. Keynesian economics thereby provides an excuse for central/federal expansion in the face of economic crises of any flavor. Read the rest of this entry

1. Looking at Keynes.
2. UK demographics.
3. To avoid 3 common fees.
4. Getting ready for Lent 3 weeks to go and it’s not just about eating the meat out of fridge and freezer.
5. Filled with extraordinary, uhm, wouldn’t that mean just ordinary?
6. I concur 100%, and I certainly am a fan of that genre.
7. Translate: asian?
8. Cool animation.
9. Where build bridges means, bring on the concessions … we’ll give not an inch.
10. Testing and failure, epic variety.
11. Predator.
12. On Mrs Palin.
13. Crises and profit, how the “gouger” outperforms government disaster relief.
14. Biden’s remarks on competence.
15. Evaluating Presidential performance.
16. Theology and ecumenical movement.
17. Is unconditional pacifism immoral, an interesting look.
18. Looking for love in 2009.
19. I spotted 2 problems … how about you?
20. Toward the up and coming collapse of environmental policy.
21. What rugged Yankee individualism looks like in 2009. Don’t tread on me indeed.
22. Becker/Posner usually debated unite against pay caps (here and here).
23. Not socialism, participatory fascism.
24. Christian blogger held in Egypt, where is the (muted) joy in Christian communities. We used to celebrate martyrdom, why do we whine today?

History only repeats itself when people don’t learn from it.  Even recent history.

Japan’s rural areas have been paved over and filled in with roads, dams and other big infrastructure projects, the legacy of trillions of dollars spent to lift the economy from a severe downturn caused by the bursting of a real estate bubble in the late 1980s. During those nearly two decades, Japan accumulated the largest public debt in the developed world — totaling 180 percent of its $5.5 trillion economy — while failing to generate a convincing recovery.

Yes, some still think that such spending can indeed create a recovery (notably, in the article, tax scofflaw Timothy Geithner), but it’s all theoretical, much like Japan’s attempt at stimulus.  In fact, Japan bailed out its banks as well, and the cure, at least according to the people living there (as opposed to those watching from an ivory tower) was far worse than the disease.

In the end, say economists, it was not public works but an expensive cleanup of the debt-ridden banking system, combined with growing exports to China and the United States, that brought a close to Japan’s Lost Decade. This has led many to conclude that spending did little more than sink Japan deeply into debt, leaving an enormous tax burden for future generations.

In the United States, it has also led to calls in Congress, particularly by Republicans, not to repeat the errors of Japan’s failed economic stimulus. They argue that it makes more sense to cut taxes, and let people decide how to spend their own money, than for the government to decide how to invest public funds. Japan put more emphasis on increased spending than tax cuts during its slump, but ultimately did reduce consumption taxes to encourage consumer spending as well.

Economists tend to divide into two camps on the question of Japan’s infrastructure spending: those, many of them Americans like Mr. Geithner, who think it did not go far enough; and those, many of them Japanese, who think it was a colossal waste.

Learn from history, or we may in for our own Lost Decade.

1. Heh.
2. Ayers returns … but Rick (?) more than Bill.
3. Heh … LOL Saints.
4. Some items in the Pork package … which has no earmarks because you can’t tell. More on “clean coal”.
5. Real … or satire, hard to tell sometimes.
6. Great blessing of water … where cold means cold.
7. Signs.
8. One consequence of Obama in the WH, Chicago dirt is getting some light.
9. A true statement about economics … which is one more reason to doubt the wisdom of the stimulus bill.
10. How can you tell if a politician is lying … Obama no different. Surprise! or not.
11. Mr Carter and legacy.
12. A book about a book reviewed.
13. Does the government create jobs? Technically yes, practically no.
14. Duality in math is often beautiful. In politics not so much.
15. Remarks on Obama from a speech writers blog.
16. Obama looking at Islam with the same pair of tinted glasses as Mr Bush.
17. Zoooom. Reprised.
18. Big snake boogie … which begs a question. One reason I’ve heard on my kids dinosaur type planet Earth dvds is that in the ages in which larger critters (dinosaurs and the like) dominated one reasons they were so big was that the earth was warmer and had higher levels of CO2 which enabled more plant growth and provided more energy for the biosphere. So then why is this a bad thing for Mr Gore and company?
19. Disposable income, where is the crises?

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?

National Review’s Larry Kudlow says it’s time for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to resign:

For all of Mr. Geithner’s apparent skills and knowledge and other professional qualifications, he still has a tremendous ethical problem. Pres. Obama has made much of the need for a new era of responsibility and ethics. Obama is right. But Mr. Geithner is wrong. He should follow Daschle and Killefer by submitting his resignation.

This is a matter of personal character and accountability. It is a matter of honesty. Too many of our leaders suffer big deficits in these areas.

As Kudlow points out, the fact that President Obama has made ethics a central part of his administration makes the Geithner problem more acute. In addition, with the focus of the administration’s energies on the economy, it is going to be difficult for Geithner to be the face of economic policy for the administration. In a separate post, Kudlow made this point:

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner stood alongside President Obama in a White House press briefing yesterday. Obama talked about bank compensation limits and Geithner spoke about the need for trust, confidence, and faith in our leaders to get the job done. Only a day earlier, Pres. Obama said there should be no double standard when it comes to paying taxes.

However, Mr. Geithner is guilty of a double standard. He dodged his taxes. We know that. The only reason he eventually paid his taxes is because he was nominated to the Treasury. He has never gotten honest about his tax dodge. He never answered the key question of whether he would have paid his back-taxes had he not been nominated to the Treasury. And the result is that Mr. Geithner has lost the trust and confidence of the American people.

It’s time for Mr. Geithner to go.

Living beyond our means is now, apparently, so important that, according to Obama, "we don’t have a moment to spare."  Jacob Sullum of Reason magazine demonstrates just how irresponsible the economic stimulus bill is, and how it 180 degrees away from what Obama once preached.

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.

For a little perspective:  Mitch McConnell said that if you spent $1 million every day since Jesus was born, you still wouldn’t have outspent the proposed stimulus bill.  PolitiFact say, yup, he’s right.

ABC News thinks it’s possible.

An epochal media moment Monday night on ABC’s World News? In an upbeat story about the election in Iraq "with virtually no violence," reporter Jim Sciutto raised the possibility the war is now over — just in time to enable President Barack Obama to fulfill his promise to reduce troop levels — as Sciutto asked a member of Iraq’s parliament: "Is this the end of the war?" Mahmoud Othman cautiously predicted: "If the Iraqi leaders could get together and work together sincerely, yes, this could be the end of the war."

     Anchor Charles Gibson set up the story by asserting the Saturday elections "mark a major turning point in the Iraqi effort to move forward and the U.S. desire to pull back." Sciutto began with a woman who agreed with his premise "Iraq is ready to move on without the Americans." Sciutto described how "almost every day there’s another handover from American to Iraqi authority" and that "it was Iraqi soldiers who kept polling stations remarkably safe" while check points "used to be manned by American soldiers. Today, they are almost exclusively Iraqi security forces."

Thank you George W. Bush, for this "liberation moment".  Thanks especially from Barack Obama who can now safely pull the troops out.