Stones Cry Out

For perspective, as budget issues continue to take center stage in Washington, and welfare programs are considered sacrosanct by Democrats, here is information from a US Census Bureau report in 1990:

* 38 percent of the persons whom the Census Bureau identifies as "poor" own their own homes with a median value of $39,200.

* 62 percent of "poor" households own a car; 14 percent own two or more cars.

* Nearly half of all "poor" households have air-conditioning; 31 percent have microwave ovens.

* Nationwide, some 22,000 "poor" households have heated swimming pools or Jacuzzis.

"Poor" Americans today are better housed, better fed, and own more property than did the average U.S. citizen throughout much of the 20th Century. In 1988, the per capita expenditures of the lowest income fifth of the U.S. population exceeded the per capita expenditures of the median American household in 1955, after adjusting for inflation.

Emphasis mine.  Now, 14% isn’t a whole lot, and 22,000 even less so, but when Democrats talk about not paying for tax cuts or programs "on the backs of the poor", just realize what "poor" means in the US. I’m sorry, but if you have a swimming pool or Jacuzzi, you aren’t poor, and money can be saved on these programs. This was 20 years ago, and spending has only risen.

As an aside, I’ll bet that people getting assistance from, say, The Salvation Army, don’t get hot tubs from them.

University Ghost Towns?
Will the 21st century bring with it an end to conventional education?

What schooling is for many is a 12- or 16-year sentence wherein young people are penned up, talked at, cajoled, quizzed, and tested, for the most part on facts and figures that can now be retrieved in seconds with a handheld device.

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Convoluted Gun Laws
Or how changing a rifle grip can turn you into a felon.

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Women won’t carry guns because it isn’t fashionable?

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Women will carry a gun because you don’t want to corner a cat

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A Mozart Hoedown?

We watched "The Passion of The Christ" with the kids again this year. I always tell people this movie is hard to watch for 3 reasons.

1. Having to read subtitles the whole way through.
2. All the gore and violence.
3. Realizing that all the gore and violence was because of us and for us.

It also brings up some conversation topics as well, e.g. do we blame Jews for "killing Christ"?

(Oh, no, we don’t, any more than we blame Italians because Romans physically nailed Him to the cross. And though my sins were the reason He had to die, He also said that He lays down His life and take it up again. No one takes it from Him. So who killed Christ? Christ did, of His own accord and will, because He loves us.)

So, what do you think of that movie? What thoughts does it evoke or what conversations does it get started for you?

Kenyans have been winning marathons all over the world. The Dutch have decided to try and keep them out by only giving 1% of the prize money to any foreigners who win the Utrech Marathon. I don’t think that’s racism, but I do believe it’s wrong anyway.

Don’t bet your life on outrageous claims by proponents of embryonic stem cell research. Someone  has, though.

Civility Watch: The Left has been sending death threats to the eeevil Koch brothers. The wrong Koch brothers.

Civility Watch 2: Who said, "Civility is the last refuge of scoundrels" and "Let’s not be civil"? (And said it in the same paper that blamed the Giffords shooting on incivility from Republicans.)

Civility Watch 3: If a Republican had said this, he would have been called "racist" or "Islamophobic". But a member of the Obama administration said it, so no outcry.

Do iPads cause unemployment? Does Jesse Jackson, Jr. think we should have banned cars to keep the buggy builders in business?

Hanging a small cross inside your company van is a firing offense in the UK, apparently.

A death panel in Canada pronounced their sentence on a baby in Ontario by saying that life support should be removed, against the parents’ wishes. Instead, they brought him to a country that, so far, does not have a fully socialized system (that would be America), and the child did so well that he was weaned off the ventilator and is now back home.  It’s still touch and go, I imagine, but critics said he’d never get off mechanical breathing. Way to go, baby Joseph! (Which begs the question; if the US goes fully socialized, where will Canadians go for good health care?)

And finally, the same old song. (Click for a larger image.)

Good morning. Have a blessed Holy Week!

1. Make that 3d and … pretty soon kids will be helping fold proteins and think it’s a game.
2. On those not getting the Tea party movement.
3. Washington and power, a symptom.
4. Among the problems here, Ms Althouse isn’t conservative … and the allegations lack substance. But besides that, it’s just fine right?
5. So, before you go check, what percentage of freight is hauled by the moribund railroad industry in the US? Now check.
6. The ozone hole …. 
7. Upcoming, 60 minutes goes to the Holy Mountain.
8. Question, does the “hate crime” category exist just because of inertia? Or are there real live progressives who support it’s continuation as a viable legal notion?
9. Oooh, spot the straw man. Mr Schraub apparently thinks the GOP wants religion mixed in the US Constitution. Problem. I doubt he’s ever met a real live Republican who believes that … or ever will. 
10. Three budgets. We need one that drops faster/further though.
11. An ordinary life in pictures.

Duane Shank, a senior policy advisor for the Sojourners has this to say about bringing Christian meaning to the Jewish Seder supper.

This week I saw an article written last spring on Jews’ concerns over Christians celebrating Passover.  It seems that more Christian churches are using “Christianized” versions of the seder, reinterpreting the meal’s symbols to reflect Christian beliefs.  Said one rabbi, “They take our symbols, our holiday, our ritual and start investing them in Christian meaning.”

This is a concern that I share. Infusing the traditional text with Christian meaning is both dishonest and disrespectful.

Um, didn’t the writers of the Gospels infuse the traditional text of the Old Testament with Christian meaning?

How about you? We have a new poll up today; do you agree or disagree with the use of "Christianized" versions of the seder?

For myself, I’ve participated in many Christian seders, and it is truly amazing to see how, in this celebration of the escape from Egypt by the Israelites, how much New Testament symbolism is actually in there. We see it in the Bible, of course, but also in the traditional remembrance of it that the Jews have written. Remarkable.

If you have had any experiences with Christian Seders you’d like to share, or if you feel they cheapen the actual Jewish tradition, let’s hear in the comments.

Good morning.

1. Oh, I wrote about the Hymn of Cassia the other night. Here’s an clip in English and not Greek.
2. For those who like the “where’s the library/bathroom at?” joke.
3. Cinema.
4. Yah, that’s a likely suspect. Or not.
5. Rich or not? My suspiscion is that they don’t feel rich because perceive themselves (likely rightly) as running in the same hamster wheel as they did when they were making far less.
6. Book borrowing coming to the kindle?
7. Anti-war movement?
8. And some targeted questions for Mr Obama’s supporters. This is the point of the Loyal opposition vs party in power. The questions raised are to be answered by those proposing policy. So …. answer, em!
9. If a Corporation did this or a private individual … they/he’d be facing jail time. Why does the White House not even face censure?
10. A bike that is more than a little weird.
11. Stupid AGW proponents tricks.
12. A new suggestion from the White House. Good idea or not? Why?
13. CFLs in the news, here and here.
14. Big fat Greek (Orthodox) Pascha (Easter).

If this doesn’t wake up Democrats, and the Americans that vote for them, to the real, actual unsustainability of more and more spending, what will? If the last remaining superpower can’t keep its financial house in order, then what comes next? Are we "spreading the wealth around" so much now, that too many are unwilling to give up their government dependence?

Should the rich pay more? If so, please say how much more, specifically? Should we go back to 91% rates? The problem is, when more that is taxed, it isn’t used to pay for existing debt and spending; it instead spurs on new spending. Our problem is not how much revenue the government is getting; it’s the amount of spending going on.

This is a bi-partisan problem; both parties have contributed to this. The Republicans, however, spurred on by the Tea Party, are making the first real effort in decades to do something about the problem. Nothing was done on this until Republicans won a majority in the House, and even now, Obama and the Democrats are making only token gestures.

Man oh man, I hope the independents are watching, and will remember in 2012. I hope some fiscally responsible Democrats are, too.

OK, lots of questions above. I would love to hear any answers in the comments.

NewsBusters has done a study on how the media covers Earth Day vs how it covers Easter.

Major Findings:

Media Undermine Christian Holiday: Nearly two thirds of all stories about Easter were negative (22 out of 34).

Easter Used to Attack Catholic Church: Ninety-one percent of the negative Easter stories were about the pedophilia scandal in the Roman Catholic Church.

Love That Mother Nature: 100 percent of Earth Day stories were positive.

Easter is the quintessential Christian holiday – the celebration of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. Although it has been celebrated by billions of people around the world for nearly 2,000 years, the mainstream media would rather celebrate the liberal holiday known as "Earth Day" and connect Easter to the abuse scandal that surrounded the Roman Catholic Church.

Holy Week marks the seven days between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. Christians around the world mark it by attending services, praying and piously observing the holiday.

But in 2010, ABC, CBS and NBC evening news shows mentioned "Easter" primarily in connection to the pedophilia scandals that swirled around the Vatican last year, being sure to highlight the "gravest outrage," "scandal," "sexual abuse" and "crisis."

Instead, the networks chose to worship something else: Mother Earth. In contrast to Easter, the 40-year-old eco-holiday Earth Day that focuses on the "plastic lying around the earth" and "going green," managed to get nothing but positive attention from the broadcast media.

The Culture and Media Institute examined reports during Holy Week (Mar. 28 through Apr. 4, 2010) and Apr. 15, 2010, through Earth Day to contrast the two weeks of media coverage.

More at the link.

Good morning.

1. Weight loss and the bike.
2. I don’t get the “why” of the relevance of this.
3. For the first time, the birther movement’s point is finally made clear.
4. Boots on the ground (soon?) in Libya?
5. Teaching maths.
6. Two on abortion, numbers and Wisconsin.
7. One of my favorite hyms of the Lenten/Paschal cycle.
8. Simon Not-Peter and the Resurrection.
9. Progressive women doing bad bad things.
10. On that “weather is getting worse” meme, which has the distinctive charactaristic of being wrong.
11. The utility of a gang, err, pack of wolves.
12. The “best”? Seriously! Wow. So the “death panel” team thinks this is a good move? Riiiight.
13. No.

Tonight (Tuesday Night) during Palm/Holy week in the Orthodox tradition the Wednesday morning Matins service is held. Toward the end of this service the Hymn of Cassia (Kassia, Kassiani) is sung. 

Sensing Thy divinity, O Lord, a woman of many sins
takes it upon herself to become a myrrh-bearer,
And in deep mourning brings before Thee fragrant oil
in anticipation of Thy burial; crying:
“Woe to me! For night is unto me, oestrus of lechery,
a dark and moonless eros of sin.
Receive the wellsprings of my tears,
O Thou who gatherest the waters of the oceans into clouds.
Bend to me, to the sorrows of my heart,
O Thou who bendedst down the heavens in Thy ineffable self-emptying.
I will kiss Thine immaculate feet
and dry them with the locks of my hair;
Those very feet whose sound Eve heard at dusk in Paradise
and hid herself in fear.
Who shall reckon the multitude of my sins,
or the abysses of Thy judgment, O Saviour of my soul?
Do not ignore Thy handmaiden,
O Thou whose mercy is endless.”

During the service, elsewhere in the service (in verse) the story of the harlot washing Jesus feet with Myrrh at the Pharisee’s house is interwoven with comparisons with Judas as he prepares his betrayal.

Recently, in the news, more accounts of scandals in the Catholic episcopacy have apparently resurfaced. Those who feel this is an indictment against Christianity and the Church in general forget that the Church is not a collection of good people gathering together to do good works. A better description would be more akin to a hospital for the wounded, who are ministered not by the well, but are tended by other whom are just as wounded. Those who pretend they are well, might not seek a hospital.

Re-read the prayer above. This poem/hymn is the heartfelt plea written by an ascetic monastic nun in late antiquity. She was a Saint, but this is the cry of her heart (and not on account her view of someone else’s). Like last night’s gospel reading (the Woe to you Pharisees and Scribes, Hypocrites!) … the protagonist is not some other whom we might look down upon, but us. The distinction (made clearly in the service) is not that she sins “more than us” but that she repents (and we so often do not).

One of the more outrageous conceits found even among Orthodox (who should know better) is to regard those outside of the Church as “more” sinful than those inside. Perhaps we might be more aware of how we fall short of the mark.

Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Good morning.

1. The whole “there are no no good faith arguments for X” is … what logical fallacy? Because it certainly smells like one.
2. I’d like to see a rational liberal response to this question (more here). I suppose the counter question might be, why is it wrong to bring a gang of people with vuvuzelas to an Obama rally?
3. This is not unrelated.
4. Diabolical (?) treatment of Christians.
5. Something of a role reversal indeed.
6. Will things flip in Afghanistan?
7. Hoooonk.
8. Absent a public very prominent apology from the White House, Mr Obama is an ass.
9. Verse, for Holy Week.
10. Dreams of the urban cyclist … with a lady in a red dress?
11. Someone wonders whence the personal and business debt? Check interest rates, I’d think.
12. So, would you recommend this or something in 9mm (like the 92FS)?
13. Catholic epsicopal scandals noted.
14. Baikonur and space.
15. Some philosophy.
16. And … a history lesson.

It’s been a little while since I had an update, but that doesn’t mean the incivility hasn’t been happening. John Nolte at BigJournalism.com chronicles "20 days worth of the death threats, vandalism, and intimidation practiced by pro-union thugs opposed to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s budget repair bill". None of which the MSM will ever hold the Left accountable for.

Good morning.

1. Evil and strategic imagination.
2. The corruption of secret knowledge.
3. You just can’t say that dude, I guess.
4. Thanking the President? More here.
5. Libya. Here and here. So, if regime change is the goal now … but not 4 weeks ago. What changed?
6. Green stimulus … green in the sense of graft.
7. Climate predictions disapparating, to borrow a Potter-ish term.
8. The decline and fall?
9. Lining them up and knocking them down.
10. Mr Obama and signing statements.
11. Some verse.
12. The physics of the bike ride.
13. I too like their music.
14. Considering the “for whom” and secondary education.
15. “We need a better ruling class” … without considering that the rulers we have are a product of our society and the particular nature of our electoral process.

Well, no, it won’t necessarily be, as there’s very little scintillating about that topic (unless you’re an economist, but maybe not even then). But I just wanted to weigh in on the big topic at hand in Washington; the battle over the budget.

Understand that this is the current year’s budget we’re talking about. When the Democrats held majorities in both houses of Congress, they couldn’t pass a budget. And now that the Republicans have been swept into the budgetary side of the legislature, it’s even more difficult. But the Dems have no one to blame but themselves for this situation. If they’d passed a budget, Republicans, and especially the Tea Partiers among them, would have little to say on real spending until the fall. But free-for-all spending without a budget is sort of liberal utopia in a nutshell, so being hoist on their own petard elicits some satisfying schadenfreude.

OK, enough clichés. Moving on.

Both sides say they want to be responsible with the budget, but the tsunami of red ink the Democrats have drowned us and our grandchildren in doesn’t speak to any real underlying principle of restraint. Things were bad when Republicans held Congress and the Oval Office, but, as predicted, the Democrats were orders of magnitude worse. The Tea Party was a response to both issues, and some of the Republican leadership sees this and is doing something about it. Not nearly enough, mind you, but a more concerted effort than we’ve seen in quite a long time.

Yet both sides have their sacrosanct programs. For Republicans, this is generally the military, and for Democrats, this is generally entitlements. Let’s start with the latter. A blogger I know from the Left asked an open question on how to cut $300 billion. His answer was, of course, stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (though Libya went interestingly unmentioned; perhaps because that’s a "kinetic military action" and not a war) and cut military programs. Viola. He asked for other ideas, with one stipulation being that it shouldn’t be done "on the backs of the poor, sick, elderly and otherwise marginalized". That kind of phrasing generally means "entitlements are untouchable, and if you even look at them sideways, we have a demagogue script all ready to go." Thus, for liberals, entitlements can only ever go up, period. Yet that is the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Entitlements are eating up so much of the budget that much of the rest is just a case of nibbling around the edges. One suggestion I heard was to just take the 2008 budget and pass it. It would cut spending, including entitlements, and somehow, with that budget, we didn’t have rampant homelessness and the elderly starving to death. (And don’t talk to me about inflation; that was just 3 years ago.)

Which brings us to the Republicans. If entitlements are an 800 pound gorilla, the military is it’s 600 pound cousin. But here’s are the differences:

• The military is a constitutionally-enumerated power of the government. Wealth redistribution is not.
• While the rest of the world look down their collective noses at the size of our military and the money we spend on it, this is the same world that asks, "Where are the Americans?" anytime we don’t show up to an atrocity or a despot or any other international incident. Europe wouldn’t handle Kosovo. The Arab League wouldn’t handle Libya. Everyone sneers at our military, but wouldn’t know what to do if we didn’t have it.

Indeed, I would like to see some saving in military spending by, for starters, shutting down all those bases in Europe that were there to protect it from Soviet aggression. Turn them over to the locals and let them man the battle stations, or abandon them, whatever. But before you start cutting military spending on current hot spots, let’s get rid of the spending on spots that haven’t been hot for decades. There is money to be cut from the military if you’re willing to look. I’m sorry that manufacturing jobs may be lost, but if you’re keeping the jobs for the jobs’ sake and not for what’s being produced, how is that any different than socialist/communist make-work jobs?

The sacred cows need to be put on a diet. All of them