Both houses of Maryland's legislature have approved same-sex marriage, and the bill is on its way to the governor for signature. He will sign the bill, as he sponsored it in the first place. Maryland will become the eighth state in the Union to apply its marriage laws to two people of the same sex as it does to two people of opposite sexes.
Haven’t you read . . . that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?
This is what Jesus said in Matthew 19 in reply to a question about divorce that the Pharisees put to him. As John Stott points out in today's reading, rather than answer questions about whether (and, if so, on what grounds) a man could divorce his wife, the questions in which the Pharisees wanted to embroil him, Jesus chose to talk about marriage. He went back to first principles.
There is an argument, I suppose, that as a legal matter, same sex couples should be treated the same way as opposite sex couples. After all, it is a free country. I am ready, however, to hear someone from the "progressive" side of the argument argue that we should drop marriage as a "legal matter" altogether, and make it a matter of contract for everyone. If a couple wants to create rights and obligations between them, then let them make an agreement that the state will enforce.
These civil unions are permitted in some states, but for the "gay rights" movement, I believe it is seen as a stepping stone for their quest for moral equivalency. That equivalency, at least in their eyes, is same-sex "marriage" approved by the government. But moral equivalency is in the eye of the beholder in our post-modern world. Why should the other side get a win on this one, and oppress the rest of us with their moral views. Why don't we simply take marriage out of the realm of government altogether, and make it an agreement between two people that the courts will enforce?
That would leave "marriage," then, to religious institutions to confer or clubs or other associations, permanent or temporary. Evangelical Christians, for example, can recognize a marriage as Jesus described it. The rest can pour spiritual content into whatever arrangement they like.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Books and Webplaces
Suggestions from our Friday morning group:
Gary:
Ling, Chai, A Heart for Freedom: The Remarkable Journey of a Young Dissident, Her Daring Escape, and Her Quest to Free China's Daughters.
Tony:
Forsythe, Frederick, The Afghan. (A novel)
Tony: Christian Resources Institute's webpage, The Voice: Biblical and Theological Resources for Growing Christians.
Gary:
Ling, Chai, A Heart for Freedom: The Remarkable Journey of a Young Dissident, Her Daring Escape, and Her Quest to Free China's Daughters.
Tony:
Forsythe, Frederick, The Afghan. (A novel)
Tony: Christian Resources Institute's webpage, The Voice: Biblical and Theological Resources for Growing Christians.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Eating with Sinners
Stott's reading this morning is Mark 2:13-17. In his comments, he defines "sinners":
"Sinners" in this context were not just those who were disobedient to God's moral law (like all of us) but those who, whether through ignorance or intent, did not live according to the traditions of the scribes. Both groups were shunned by all respectable people, who would neither give hospitality to them nor receive hospitality from them, fearing ceremonial contamination. But Jesus deliberately and freely fraternized with them, having no such fears.
Does this cut against the idea of a church program that soaks up all of one's spare time? When does a Christian get the opportunity to " deliberately and freely fraternize with them," if every free moment (even our Valentine's Day dinner) is within church walls?
We don't deny hospitality to "sinners." But they must walk through our doors to receive it. I don't think that's nearly enough. I believe we fear a sort of contamination from people our middle-class culture would consider "unclean."
"Sinners" in this context were not just those who were disobedient to God's moral law (like all of us) but those who, whether through ignorance or intent, did not live according to the traditions of the scribes. Both groups were shunned by all respectable people, who would neither give hospitality to them nor receive hospitality from them, fearing ceremonial contamination. But Jesus deliberately and freely fraternized with them, having no such fears.
Does this cut against the idea of a church program that soaks up all of one's spare time? When does a Christian get the opportunity to " deliberately and freely fraternize with them," if every free moment (even our Valentine's Day dinner) is within church walls?
We don't deny hospitality to "sinners." But they must walk through our doors to receive it. I don't think that's nearly enough. I believe we fear a sort of contamination from people our middle-class culture would consider "unclean."
Got Jump Rope?
I'm struggling with just the simple jump. Carol has it nailed. The point in Crossfit with the rope as it is in other exercises: minimal exertion to accomplish the task. It's all in the wrists.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Caloric Restriction and Longevity; Thomas à Kempis
The CrossFit dietary prescription is as follows:
Protein should be lean and varied and account for about 30% of your total caloric load.
Carbohydrates should be predominantly low-glycemic and account for about 40% of your total caloric load.
Fat should be predominantly monounsaturated and account for about 30% of your total caloric load.
Calories should be set at between .7 and 1.0 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass depending on your activity level. The .7 figure is for moderate daily workout loads and the 1.0 figure is for the hardcore athlete.
* * *
Current research strongly supports the link between caloric restriction and an increased life expectancy. The incidence of cancers and heart disease sharply decline with a diet that is carefully limited in controlling caloric intake. “Caloric Restriction” is another fruitful area for Internet search. The CrossFit prescription is consistent with this research.
-from the national Crossfit website and its page on Nutrition.
One can be on a plant-based diet and still over-eat.
Thomas à Kempis speaks of the "unmortified man." This is a man of "unbridled affections," who is never at peace. Food, especially if you know it's "healthy" and good, still requires care, maybe even greater care.
I am fascinated by the word mortification, which appears several times in my translation of The Imitation of Christ. Thomas calls us to "self-mortification." He writes, "True peace of heart, then, is found in resisting passions, not in satisfying them." How radical that sounds in a culture like ours.
Mortification comes from the Latin mortificatio, meaning "a killing," according to my Webster's. In medicine, its definition is "Death and post-mortem change of one part of the body, while the rest continues to live; gangrene."
Matthew 5:30
Protein should be lean and varied and account for about 30% of your total caloric load.
Carbohydrates should be predominantly low-glycemic and account for about 40% of your total caloric load.
Fat should be predominantly monounsaturated and account for about 30% of your total caloric load.
Calories should be set at between .7 and 1.0 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass depending on your activity level. The .7 figure is for moderate daily workout loads and the 1.0 figure is for the hardcore athlete.
* * *
Current research strongly supports the link between caloric restriction and an increased life expectancy. The incidence of cancers and heart disease sharply decline with a diet that is carefully limited in controlling caloric intake. “Caloric Restriction” is another fruitful area for Internet search. The CrossFit prescription is consistent with this research.
-from the national Crossfit website and its page on Nutrition.
One can be on a plant-based diet and still over-eat.
Thomas à Kempis speaks of the "unmortified man." This is a man of "unbridled affections," who is never at peace. Food, especially if you know it's "healthy" and good, still requires care, maybe even greater care.
I am fascinated by the word mortification, which appears several times in my translation of The Imitation of Christ. Thomas calls us to "self-mortification." He writes, "True peace of heart, then, is found in resisting passions, not in satisfying them." How radical that sounds in a culture like ours.
Mortification comes from the Latin mortificatio, meaning "a killing," according to my Webster's. In medicine, its definition is "Death and post-mortem change of one part of the body, while the rest continues to live; gangrene."
Matthew 5:30
30
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.
It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole
body to go into hell. (NIV 1984)
High US Taxes on Corporations Drive Jobs Overseas.
In his State of the Union Speech this January, President Obama pledged to fix the high corporate tax rates that have helped drive manufacturing jobs overseas.
-from "Tax Rates for a Small Planet," a recent research report from AIER.
The report states that the last tax reduction in the corporate income tax was in 1986, when Congress reduced it to 35%. We had a relative advantage over other countries for awhile. Germany, for example, had a top tax rate of 56% in 1986. "By 2007," the report states, "it was down to 26 percent. In 2008, in the wake of the recession, Germany cut the top corporate tax rate to 15 percent." This happened in other countries, such as Canada (37.8% to 16.5% in 2011) and the UK (52% in 1981 to 26% in 2011).
The report also notes that since 2010 corporations may deduct 9 percent of corporate profits, which has reduced the top tax rate on manufacturing profits to 31.9%. The report concludes:
It's a step in the right direction. But there is still a long way to go. To be competitive, the U.S. needs more incentives that attract and retain companies. . . . Lowering marginal corporate tax rates in a good place to start.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Gingrich would cut the top tax rate for corporations to 12.5%, Romney to 25%. Santorum would eliminate it for manufacturers and cut in in half for all other corporations. Paul would eliminate taxes on individuals and fund the government through excise taxes, tariffs, and corporate taxes.
-from "Tax Rates for a Small Planet," a recent research report from AIER.
The report states that the last tax reduction in the corporate income tax was in 1986, when Congress reduced it to 35%. We had a relative advantage over other countries for awhile. Germany, for example, had a top tax rate of 56% in 1986. "By 2007," the report states, "it was down to 26 percent. In 2008, in the wake of the recession, Germany cut the top corporate tax rate to 15 percent." This happened in other countries, such as Canada (37.8% to 16.5% in 2011) and the UK (52% in 1981 to 26% in 2011).
The report also notes that since 2010 corporations may deduct 9 percent of corporate profits, which has reduced the top tax rate on manufacturing profits to 31.9%. The report concludes:
It's a step in the right direction. But there is still a long way to go. To be competitive, the U.S. needs more incentives that attract and retain companies. . . . Lowering marginal corporate tax rates in a good place to start.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Gingrich would cut the top tax rate for corporations to 12.5%, Romney to 25%. Santorum would eliminate it for manufacturers and cut in in half for all other corporations. Paul would eliminate taxes on individuals and fund the government through excise taxes, tariffs, and corporate taxes.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Strategies to Max Out Social Security
Good article here, with some websites noted that will help with the analysis.
Santorum is Toast
"Birth control is harmful to women." Jennifer Rubin hoists this Santorum quote of six years ago from an interview she embeds and discusses in her WaPo column yesterday. Drudge links to it. The guy would rather be right than electable, and the US public will take that deal. No way he beats the President.
UPDATE: James Taranto believes that "the center right's" criticism of Santorum's views on this point is unfair, maybe "downright irrational." (So, I'm part of the "center right." OK, then.)
UPDATE: James Taranto believes that "the center right's" criticism of Santorum's views on this point is unfair, maybe "downright irrational." (So, I'm part of the "center right." OK, then.)
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Mr. Justice Scalia Visits Chicago Law
He told the law students:
The University of Chicago is one of two or three of the most formidable intellectual institutions in the world; a really impressive place. And you’re lucky to be here.
I wouldn't say "lucky," but I would say a great blessing.
Althouse linked to this article, and she includes this quote from it:
"Try to find a practice that enables you to maintain a human existence … time for your family, your church or synagogue, community … boy scouts, little league,” Scalia said, noting he started with Jones, Day in Cleveland. “You should look for a place like that. I’m sure they’re still out there. Maybe you have to go to Cleveland.
The fact is, of course, you don't have to go to Cleveland. You can go to Miami or probably any city, if you have firmly in mind what is important. This is not the same thing as practicing second rate law or of compromising professionally. In part, it is a matter of flying financially well under one's income and of maintaining a healthy detachment, not so much from the practice of law but from the context of that practice, that is, from the firm and the milieu in which the young lawyer finds himself. That lawyer must be ready and able to say good-bye to the firm and how it might seek to shape, that is misshape him.
It is a person's character that withstands the assault of the toxic side of legal culture, and even moves upon it. It is not about mere "maintenance" of one's true self. I hope it is not too dramatic to say that it is about moving upon and transforming that culture.
This is nothing new for God's people. Where-ever we find ourselves in the marketplace, lawyers or not, we are called upon to move upon the world, not to be overwhelmed by it. There is certainly no exception for lawyers, not in terms of excellence and not in terms of being the humans we were created to be. Excellence remains a cardinal aspect of such a radical creature. The excellence part: that is why Chicago Law was such a great blessing.
(See 2 Timothy 2:15)
The University of Chicago is one of two or three of the most formidable intellectual institutions in the world; a really impressive place. And you’re lucky to be here.
I wouldn't say "lucky," but I would say a great blessing.
Althouse linked to this article, and she includes this quote from it:
"Try to find a practice that enables you to maintain a human existence … time for your family, your church or synagogue, community … boy scouts, little league,” Scalia said, noting he started with Jones, Day in Cleveland. “You should look for a place like that. I’m sure they’re still out there. Maybe you have to go to Cleveland.
The fact is, of course, you don't have to go to Cleveland. You can go to Miami or probably any city, if you have firmly in mind what is important. This is not the same thing as practicing second rate law or of compromising professionally. In part, it is a matter of flying financially well under one's income and of maintaining a healthy detachment, not so much from the practice of law but from the context of that practice, that is, from the firm and the milieu in which the young lawyer finds himself. That lawyer must be ready and able to say good-bye to the firm and how it might seek to shape, that is misshape him.
It is a person's character that withstands the assault of the toxic side of legal culture, and even moves upon it. It is not about mere "maintenance" of one's true self. I hope it is not too dramatic to say that it is about moving upon and transforming that culture.
This is nothing new for God's people. Where-ever we find ourselves in the marketplace, lawyers or not, we are called upon to move upon the world, not to be overwhelmed by it. There is certainly no exception for lawyers, not in terms of excellence and not in terms of being the humans we were created to be. Excellence remains a cardinal aspect of such a radical creature. The excellence part: that is why Chicago Law was such a great blessing.
(See 2 Timothy 2:15)
Overeating and Mild Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly
A new study suggests overeating may double the risk for memory loss,
or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), among people age 70 and older.
The study - to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in April - involved over 1,200 dementia-free people between ages 70 and 89. Of those, 163 people had MCI. Participants filled out a questionnaire about the amount of calories they consumed daily.
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the intermediate stage between the expected cognitive decline of normal aging and the more pronounced decline of dementia, according to the Mayo Clinic. It increases a person's risk for developing later dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, but some people with MCI never get worse.
-from a CBS news article yesterday. Mary had already brought this study to our attention via email.
I am 5 years away from age 70, if I remember correctly, so I am going to diary this for July 16, 2016. I will ask for a smaller cake and, at that birthday party, start doing something about eating too much.
The study - to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in April - involved over 1,200 dementia-free people between ages 70 and 89. Of those, 163 people had MCI. Participants filled out a questionnaire about the amount of calories they consumed daily.
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the intermediate stage between the expected cognitive decline of normal aging and the more pronounced decline of dementia, according to the Mayo Clinic. It increases a person's risk for developing later dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, but some people with MCI never get worse.
-from a CBS news article yesterday. Mary had already brought this study to our attention via email.
I am 5 years away from age 70, if I remember correctly, so I am going to diary this for July 16, 2016. I will ask for a smaller cake and, at that birthday party, start doing something about eating too much.
Health Note to Broccoli Eaters on Valentine's Day
A flurry of small studies suggest that sex is as good for your health as
vitamin D and broccoli. It not only relieves stress, improves sleep and
burns calories, it can also reduce pain, ease depression, strengthen
blood vessels, boost the immune system and lower the risk of prostate
and breast cancer.
-from the WSJ, via Instapundit
I'm sure the studies refer to safe, married sex.
-from the WSJ, via Instapundit
I'm sure the studies refer to safe, married sex.
Monday, February 13, 2012
"Sugar: the Bitter Truth"
Nearly three years ago, Robert Lustig, an expert on childhood obesity at
the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine,
delivered a lecture entitled “Sugar: The Bitter Truth.” Since the
video’s posting on YouTube in the summer of 2009, the 90-minute
presentation has gone viral. The antisugar lecture — he calls it
“poison” — has earned more than 1.9 million views and counting.
-from an article by Howard Cohen in yesterday's "Heart Health" supplement in the Sunday Herald.
The video of Dr. Lustig's lecture is here.
-from an article by Howard Cohen in yesterday's "Heart Health" supplement in the Sunday Herald.
The video of Dr. Lustig's lecture is here.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Heart Disease is the No. 1 Killer of Women
Statistics from the American Heart Association show that:
• More women die of heart disease than all forms of cancer combined;
• More women die from cardiovascular disease — one in three women — than breast cancer, which kills one in 31 women in the United States;
• Some eight million women in the United States live with heart disease;
• But only one in six women in the country consider the disease her greatest health risk, and;
• Ninety percent of women have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease.
-from today's Miami Herald.
Main risk factors for heart disease in women, according to the article:
• Over the age of 55
• Menopausal
• Hypertension
• High cholesterol levels
• Diabetes
• Overweight
• Family history
• More women die of heart disease than all forms of cancer combined;
• More women die from cardiovascular disease — one in three women — than breast cancer, which kills one in 31 women in the United States;
• Some eight million women in the United States live with heart disease;
• But only one in six women in the country consider the disease her greatest health risk, and;
• Ninety percent of women have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease.
-from today's Miami Herald.
Main risk factors for heart disease in women, according to the article:
• Over the age of 55
• Menopausal
• Hypertension
• High cholesterol levels
• Diabetes
• Overweight
• Family history
Reading "The Imitation of Christ"
Our Sunday School class paused in its study of John to read Thomas a Kempis' The Imitation of Christ. One of our number is a Jesuit-educated Roman Catholic engineer from Chile, and whenever we have seen that book cited in our readings, he would light up. And we kept reading references to this little work in our studies of John and Romans. Finally, we decided to stop for a few weeks and simply read and discuss it.
There is a very inexpensive paperback addition available, the 1940 translation by Croft and Bolton, published by Dover. It is only $2.50. (The Kindle version is $.95!) According to the blurb on the back cover, Imitation is "[s]econd only to the Bible as a source of religious instruction and inspiration," a claim echoed by the Wikipedia article on the book.
There are four major divisions or "Books" in my edition, and we are discussing Book One, "Thoughts Helpful in the Life of the Soul" this morning. The text refers to virtues and virtuous behavior throughout. I had to stop and try to remember just exactly what are those virtues. (Plato and Aristotle's "four cardinal virtues:" Prudence, Justice, Restraint or Temperance, and Courage or Fortitude, to which are added the "three theological virtues" of Faith, Hope, and Love. Thank you, Wiki.)
In the process of that inquiry, I bumped into "Virtue Ethics" and from there I found my way to Alasdair McIntyre's After Virtue. Here is what the Wikipedia article says about McIntyre and his book:
Probably his most widely read work, After Virtue was written when MacIntyre was already in his fifties. Up until that time MacIntyre had been a relatively influential analytic philosopher of a Marxist bent whose inquiries into moral philosophy had been conducted in a “piecemeal way, focusing first on this problem and then on that, in a mode characteristic of much analytic philosophy.” However, after reading the works of Thomas Kuhn and Imre Lakatos on philosophy of science and epistemology MacIntyre was inspired to change the entire direction of his thought, tearing up the manuscript he had been working on and deciding to view the problems of modern moral and political philosophy “not from the standpoint of liberal modernity, but instead from the standpoint of ... Aristotelian moral and political practice.”[7]
In general terms the task of After Virtue is to account both for the dysfunctional quality of moral discourse within modern society and rehabilitate what MacIntyre takes to be a forgotten alternative in the teleological rationality of Aristotelian virtue ethics.
Ah! Thomas Kuhn! Macon's hero from Davidson College days. The circle is complete.
There is a very inexpensive paperback addition available, the 1940 translation by Croft and Bolton, published by Dover. It is only $2.50. (The Kindle version is $.95!) According to the blurb on the back cover, Imitation is "[s]econd only to the Bible as a source of religious instruction and inspiration," a claim echoed by the Wikipedia article on the book.
There are four major divisions or "Books" in my edition, and we are discussing Book One, "Thoughts Helpful in the Life of the Soul" this morning. The text refers to virtues and virtuous behavior throughout. I had to stop and try to remember just exactly what are those virtues. (Plato and Aristotle's "four cardinal virtues:" Prudence, Justice, Restraint or Temperance, and Courage or Fortitude, to which are added the "three theological virtues" of Faith, Hope, and Love. Thank you, Wiki.)
In the process of that inquiry, I bumped into "Virtue Ethics" and from there I found my way to Alasdair McIntyre's After Virtue. Here is what the Wikipedia article says about McIntyre and his book:
Probably his most widely read work, After Virtue was written when MacIntyre was already in his fifties. Up until that time MacIntyre had been a relatively influential analytic philosopher of a Marxist bent whose inquiries into moral philosophy had been conducted in a “piecemeal way, focusing first on this problem and then on that, in a mode characteristic of much analytic philosophy.” However, after reading the works of Thomas Kuhn and Imre Lakatos on philosophy of science and epistemology MacIntyre was inspired to change the entire direction of his thought, tearing up the manuscript he had been working on and deciding to view the problems of modern moral and political philosophy “not from the standpoint of liberal modernity, but instead from the standpoint of ... Aristotelian moral and political practice.”[7]
In general terms the task of After Virtue is to account both for the dysfunctional quality of moral discourse within modern society and rehabilitate what MacIntyre takes to be a forgotten alternative in the teleological rationality of Aristotelian virtue ethics.
Ah! Thomas Kuhn! Macon's hero from Davidson College days. The circle is complete.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Some of the Coaches at Crossfit Downtown Miami; Shelley Noyce
The young men, left to right: Adrian, Eddie, another Adrian, then D.G., Danny, and another Danny. Missing are Montie, Rey, and Chris.
Good guys all.
(The lady is Shelley Noyce, 2011 CrossFit Games Masters Division Champion)
Friday, February 10, 2012
What Kind of Sophistry is This?
The [new] policy will allow religious employers to opt out of the [contraceptive] coverage mandate. If they do so, the employer's insurance company will be required to offer contraception for free in a separate arrangement with workers who want it.
-on the President's "compromise" regarding the religious exception to the contraceptive coverage requirement for health insurance; from today's WSJ Online.
Do they think we are stupid? (I think they really do.)
UPDATE: The bishops are hardly fooled. I didn't think they would be.
-on the President's "compromise" regarding the religious exception to the contraceptive coverage requirement for health insurance; from today's WSJ Online.
Do they think we are stupid? (I think they really do.)
UPDATE: The bishops are hardly fooled. I didn't think they would be.
Put the Purell with the Beach Toys
The EPA reports that playing in beach sand is less healthier than playing in the ocean.
The EPA also takes the position that carbon dioxide is a pollutant, subject to the agency's regulation. But maybe they are correct sometimes. (You know the one about the broken clock, right?)
Still, this may not be true for Miami's beaches. It may well be safer in the sand around these parts.
The EPA also takes the position that carbon dioxide is a pollutant, subject to the agency's regulation. But maybe they are correct sometimes. (You know the one about the broken clock, right?)
Still, this may not be true for Miami's beaches. It may well be safer in the sand around these parts.
CGS Bernard C. Webber Comes to Miami, Named for a Hero
Bernard C. Webber was a Senior Chief Petty Officer and one of the "Chatham Legends:"
On February 18, 1952, he took the CG36500 out of Chatham Station with
three volunteers-Seaman Ervin Maske, Seaman Richard Livesey and Petty Officer
3rd Class Andrew Fitzgerald, an Engineman, responding to the tanker Pendleton,
which had broken in two off Chatham in a storm. Seaman Maske was at Chatham
Station awaiting transport to the Lightship Stonehorse but remained ashore
because the Coast Guard deemed the seas too rough to transport him. He
volunteered, along with the two Chatham Coast Guardsmen who volunteered to
accompany Mr. Webber.
The Coast Guard crew faced 60 foot waves, hurricane force winds and
blizzard conditions to rescue 33 sailors who survived the shipwreck. While
the CG36500 was leaving Chatham Harbor, her compass and windshield were smashed
and the rescue boat began shipping water. They persevered, and by dead reckoning
they finally sighted the stern section of the Pendleton, where the ship's
crew was awaiting rescue. They only lost one man-the ship's cook, George
D. "Tiny" Myers,
-from the US Coast Guard Lightship Sailors Association International's webpage on Bernard C. Webber, (USCG Retired) 1928 - 2009
The photo below is of the CG36500 that Webber commanded on his rescue mission. It is from the the Chatham Legends website:
The CG36500 has its own complete website here. It's worth examining.
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Getting Started with Stott's "Through the Bible"
Some friends of mine are interested in picking up John Stott's Through the Bible - Through the Year, Daily Reflections from Genesis to Revelation (Baker Books 2006) to aid their daily devotions. It has readings set up something like a lectionary, following the Christian calendar as Stott has modified it for purposes of the book. The book begins with "Week I:Creation" and progresses more or less through the Bible for 52 weeks. We are not dealing with a calendar year here.
Where do you begin if you pick up the book later in the year than the first week? If one is beginning during the first third of the year, Stott advises on page 8 as follows:
The best way to keep in step with the Christian calendar is to pinpoint the date of Easter in the year in which you are using the book. Then during the two weeks before it . . . we can read the meditations set for Week 31 . . . and Week 32. On Easter Day itself, and during the remaining days of Easter Week, we can then read the meditation set for Week 33.
Today is Thursday, February 9, 2012. Today's reading, "Forgive Us Our Sins," is on page 204. It is part of "Week 24: The Lord's Prayer." This is a delightful way to start the day.
Where do you begin if you pick up the book later in the year than the first week? If one is beginning during the first third of the year, Stott advises on page 8 as follows:
The best way to keep in step with the Christian calendar is to pinpoint the date of Easter in the year in which you are using the book. Then during the two weeks before it . . . we can read the meditations set for Week 31 . . . and Week 32. On Easter Day itself, and during the remaining days of Easter Week, we can then read the meditation set for Week 33.
Today is Thursday, February 9, 2012. Today's reading, "Forgive Us Our Sins," is on page 204. It is part of "Week 24: The Lord's Prayer." This is a delightful way to start the day.
The Vision of a Revolutionary East West Corridor for MetroRail
Images of the Port of Miami Tunnel Boring Machine
Her name is "Harriet" and pictures of her are here.
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
Chickens Come Home to Roost for Mr. Stupak. Or Something.
[W]e're eager to hear from former Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak, who
for a brief moment led a faction of pro-life Democrats against ObamaCare
in 2010. They surrendered when Mr. Obama gave them the fig leaf of an
executive order that will supposedly prevent federal funds from
subsidizing abortions. Mr. Stupak is now a lobbyist at the D.C. law firm
Venable LLP.
-from yesterday's WSJ editorial, decrying the HHS regulation that draws the Obamacare "religious exception" so narrowly that even left-wing Catholic bishops are up in arms.
Ken and I remember Bart Stupak. But the man at least paid for his transgressions. Knowing that he would not be re-elected, he decided not to run again. Life is tough in America, though, now the poor man is out on the streets.
No, wait . . .
-from yesterday's WSJ editorial, decrying the HHS regulation that draws the Obamacare "religious exception" so narrowly that even left-wing Catholic bishops are up in arms.
Ken and I remember Bart Stupak. But the man at least paid for his transgressions. Knowing that he would not be re-elected, he decided not to run again. Life is tough in America, though, now the poor man is out on the streets.
No, wait . . .
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
"Hallowed be your name"
[God's] name is already holy in that it is exalted above every other name. Yet we pray for its hallowing, that is, that it may be given the honor due it in our lives, in the church, and in the world.
- Stott, Through the Bible - Through the Year, Daily Reflections from Genesis to Revelation (Baker Books 2006), p. 202.
- Stott, Through the Bible - Through the Year, Daily Reflections from Genesis to Revelation (Baker Books 2006), p. 202.
Monday, February 06, 2012
How Believers Ought to Pray
Believers do not pray with the view to informing God about things unknown to him, or of exciting him to do his duty, or of urging him as though he were reluctant. On the contrary, they pray in order that they may arouse themselves to seek him, that they may exercise their faith in meditating on his promises, that they may relieve themselves from their anxieties by pouring them into his bosom; in a word that they may declare that from him alone they hope and expect, both for themselves and for others, all good things.
-John Calvin, as quoted in Stott, Through the Bible - Through the Year, Daily Reflections from Genesis to Revelation (Baker Books 2006), p. 201.
-John Calvin, as quoted in Stott, Through the Bible - Through the Year, Daily Reflections from Genesis to Revelation (Baker Books 2006), p. 201.
Sunday, February 05, 2012
"Mortgage Tornado Warning, Unheeded" - The New York Times at its Best
See this article published yesterday on the efforts of Florida businessman Nye Lavalle to bring to Fannie Mae's attention unfair and fraudulent businesses practices of those in the mortgage industry. The Times article has a link to the full text of the investigative report made by a major law firm that had been retained by Fannie Mae to look into Mr. Lavalle's allegations.
Mr. Lavalle accuses Fannie Mae of "aiding, abetting and sanctioning ... predatory lending and
servicing schemes," as well as committing accounting and securities fraud, and racketeering
violations. He views Fannie Mae as responsible for damage inflicted on single-family borrowers
by unscrupulous lenders and servicers because Fannie Mae approves lenders and servicers,
maintains servicer profiles and ratings, approves mortgage document terms and servicing
requirements, and benefits from the income stream created by wrongdoing.
-from the investigative report.
Mr. Lavalle accuses Fannie Mae of "aiding, abetting and sanctioning ... predatory lending and
servicing schemes," as well as committing accounting and securities fraud, and racketeering
violations. He views Fannie Mae as responsible for damage inflicted on single-family borrowers
by unscrupulous lenders and servicers because Fannie Mae approves lenders and servicers,
maintains servicer profiles and ratings, approves mortgage document terms and servicing
requirements, and benefits from the income stream created by wrongdoing.
-from the investigative report.
Saturday, February 04, 2012
"Monsanto lobbyist uses power as FDA food czar to target Amish "
If true, this is really a nasty report. (Thanks to Instapundit.)
(The fact that a former food industry lobbyist "is now is the second highest-ranking official at the FDA, and as Food Safety Czar is responsible for implementing the day-to-day policies that govern the food safety laws for the U.S. " is part of why people are spitting mad at Washington - and ought to be.)
(The fact that a former food industry lobbyist "is now is the second highest-ranking official at the FDA, and as Food Safety Czar is responsible for implementing the day-to-day policies that govern the food safety laws for the U.S. " is part of why people are spitting mad at Washington - and ought to be.)
Friday, February 03, 2012
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Getting Out of Afghanistan Early Seems Wrong
A faster end to U.S. combat in Afghanistan could give President Barack Obama an election-year lift.
It may also demoralize Afghans who fear a return to the austere rule of the Taliban and hope that reconciliation between all parties would deliver a better alternative.
-from a Reuters report today that the US announced that it will withdraw its combat troops a year earlier than previously announced, taking the Kabul government by surprise.
Surely this is not some cynical move by the Obama administration to save his re-election.
I recall that when we went into Iraq, then Florida Senator Bob Graham, a Democrat and a decent man, was very critical of the Bush Administration, arguing that the central theater of war should be Afghanistan (we were already there, but not the way we were about to be in Iraq.) This was also a theme during President Obama's campaign for President. Now this.
It may also demoralize Afghans who fear a return to the austere rule of the Taliban and hope that reconciliation between all parties would deliver a better alternative.
-from a Reuters report today that the US announced that it will withdraw its combat troops a year earlier than previously announced, taking the Kabul government by surprise.
Surely this is not some cynical move by the Obama administration to save his re-election.
I recall that when we went into Iraq, then Florida Senator Bob Graham, a Democrat and a decent man, was very critical of the Bush Administration, arguing that the central theater of war should be Afghanistan (we were already there, but not the way we were about to be in Iraq.) This was also a theme during President Obama's campaign for President. Now this.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
"All Good Things Come Out of Blood, Sweat, and Tears"
(Maybe a little hyperbolic, but I get what he means.)
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Ryan Hall, Marathoner, Christian
Speaking of running, we should all consider running in this 5K in March.
Aidan, Let's Get Together and Show them How to Design a Warehouse System
(Thanks to Jane for forwarding me this link.)
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
¡Hola, Caballero!
Last evening on the way home from the office, I dropped by the Home Depot just off Okeechobee Road, near LeJeune. (Over the weekend I discovered the world's greatest garage shelf as I researched the problem on the internet and bought one Sunday afternoon at HD. It was on sale for $10 less than shown on HD's web page, and it worked out so well, I went back to buy another.) I was dressed in my lawyer's uniform, but left the suit jacket in the car.
At HD there is a security guard at the exit door to check one's receipt against the merchandise he is carrying out. The security guard waiting as I approached the exit was a woman. "¡Hola, Caballero!" I was a little taken aback - not Señor, but Caballero - but recovered in time to say, "¡Señora, hola a usted!" When she checked the receipt she said, "Buenas Noches," and so did I. Not a word of English.
The gray hair, the white shirt and tie: I am entitled not only to courtesy but also to deference at HD. I love the Latin culture in Miami.
At HD there is a security guard at the exit door to check one's receipt against the merchandise he is carrying out. The security guard waiting as I approached the exit was a woman. "¡Hola, Caballero!" I was a little taken aback - not Señor, but Caballero - but recovered in time to say, "¡Señora, hola a usted!" When she checked the receipt she said, "Buenas Noches," and so did I. Not a word of English.
The gray hair, the white shirt and tie: I am entitled not only to courtesy but also to deference at HD. I love the Latin culture in Miami.
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and Other Subject Matter
Online education without charge at Stanford and other places.
I wish I could go on-line for more time, say an extra day a week when I needed it. I'm waiting for that.
I wish I could go on-line for more time, say an extra day a week when I needed it. I'm waiting for that.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
"The Role of Health Professionals Should Be to Share Knowledge, Teach"
Dr. Gustavo
Parajón emphasized a bottom-up community approach to the prevention of
disease and promotion of health rather than the more traditional
top-down hospital-based approach. He believed that in every community
there were capable leaders, regardless of their level of education, who
had the skills, passion and commitment to make a difference to improve
the health of their communities. He also believed that in a setting like
Nicaragua, where health services did not reach the poorest people, that
the role of health professionals should be to share knowledge, teach
and encourage lay health workers.
-from "A Tribute to Dr. Gustavo Parajon," on the Amos Health & Hope Website.
Could that model work in the US? It might, if it were allowed. But with our dense regulation of medical services, this probably only works in a country like Nicaragua. Or maybe I'm ignorant and this sort of thing is already working in the inner cities of America and rural America. Or maybe the "community" in the phrase "community leaders" is something different in Nicaragua than it is here.
On the other hand, we do have the development of health services at places like WalMart.
Could that model work in the US? It might, if it were allowed. But with our dense regulation of medical services, this probably only works in a country like Nicaragua. Or maybe I'm ignorant and this sort of thing is already working in the inner cities of America and rural America. Or maybe the "community" in the phrase "community leaders" is something different in Nicaragua than it is here.
On the other hand, we do have the development of health services at places like WalMart.
Interfering with a Nation's Oil Supply is Serious Business
Japan is extremely poor in natural resources, and the situation was not much different in the pre-World War II era. Consequently, Japan had to depend on trade heavily to function as a modern nation, and it was a serious and vital issue for Japan to keep all crucial strategic resources, particularly oil, coming in to it from the outside world. If the route for Japan to obtain these materials was cut off, and therefore, the strategic resources were stopped from coming to Japan, there would basically be only two choices left for Japan. One is to lower the level of function as a modern nation to where it could meet the level of domestic productivity for natural resources. And two is to go out actively and find a way to gain what it needed to maintain its function as a modern nation. The conflict and negotiation between the US and Japan in the pre-World War II period illustrates a good example of the case and explains why Japan went to war against the US. The US, the biggest oil supplier for Japan at the time, imposed the oil embargo on Japan in July, 1941, and it helped the Japanese to make up their minds to fight against the Americans. Thus, in a way, the attack on Pearl Harbor was not a surprise one at all; it was a necessary result of the conflict and negotiation.
-from Arima, The Way to Pearl Harbor: U.S. vs. Japan in the American University's ICE Case Studies.
Do the Iranian mullahs have the backbone that the Japanese had? I guess we'll see.
-from Arima, The Way to Pearl Harbor: U.S. vs. Japan in the American University's ICE Case Studies.
Do the Iranian mullahs have the backbone that the Japanese had? I guess we'll see.
"The GOP Deserves to Lose"
Subtitled: "That's what happens when you run with losers."
Wow! Bret Stephens of the WSJ takes the GOP to the woodshed.
UPDATE: Considering the President's SOTU speech last night, both parties deserve to lose. No one on the Democrat side took on Obama. Where are the Eugene McCarthys of this generation?
Wow! Bret Stephens of the WSJ takes the GOP to the woodshed.
UPDATE: Considering the President's SOTU speech last night, both parties deserve to lose. No one on the Democrat side took on Obama. Where are the Eugene McCarthys of this generation?
Salud y Esperanza
Monday, January 23, 2012
Wishing the ECO Well
An essay by Don Sweeting, President of Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando. But the Huffington Post is not happy.
Active Minds Correlate with Reduced Alzheimers Risk
Keeping the brain in gear throughout life with reading, games, and other mental activities cuts down on beta-amyloid plaques thought to cause Alzheimer's disease, researchers found.
--from today's MedPage Today
--from today's MedPage Today
"How Not to Waive Your Legal Rights on a Cruise"
See a good article in the Herald by Miami attorney Gabrielle D'Alemberte.
Those of us used to the American tort system and the ready availability of top-notch (and not so top-notch) "plaintiff's lawyers" will be shocked to learn of the severely restricted rights of cruise ship passengers to compensation for injury or of the families of cruise ship passengers who lose their lives as a result of the negligence of the cruise ship line.
Frankly, I doubt the efficacy of Ms. D'Alemberte's self-help advice about marking up one's cruise ship ticket as he boards the boat. But at least she gives a heads-up on the unfamiliar legal world that one enters when taking a cruise, especially on a foreign line.
My advice is for one to purchase reasonably broad insurance for life's contingencies (life, disability, medical), to the extent that one can. You can get extra coverage for a given vacation or trip, just for that trip. As to getting someone else to compensate you or your family for life's contingencies? If you get hit by a Coke truck on Flagler Street that was running a red light, then good for you. But don't count on it.
Those of us used to the American tort system and the ready availability of top-notch (and not so top-notch) "plaintiff's lawyers" will be shocked to learn of the severely restricted rights of cruise ship passengers to compensation for injury or of the families of cruise ship passengers who lose their lives as a result of the negligence of the cruise ship line.
Frankly, I doubt the efficacy of Ms. D'Alemberte's self-help advice about marking up one's cruise ship ticket as he boards the boat. But at least she gives a heads-up on the unfamiliar legal world that one enters when taking a cruise, especially on a foreign line.
My advice is for one to purchase reasonably broad insurance for life's contingencies (life, disability, medical), to the extent that one can. You can get extra coverage for a given vacation or trip, just for that trip. As to getting someone else to compensate you or your family for life's contingencies? If you get hit by a Coke truck on Flagler Street that was running a red light, then good for you. But don't count on it.
Mr. Romney's 15% Income Tax Rate
Mr. Romney said he makes most of his money from investments, not wages or salary. Thus his income is really taxed twice: once at the corporate tax rate of 35%, then again at a 15% tax rate when it is passed through to him as dividends or via capital gains from the sale of stock.
All income from businesses is eventually passed through to the owners, so to ignore business taxes creates a statistical illusion that makes it appear that the rich pay less than they really do. By this logic, if the corporate tax rate were raised to, say, 60% from today's 35% and the dividend and capital gains tax were cut to zero, it would appear that business owners were getting away with paying no federal tax at all.
This all-too-conveniently confuses the incidence of a tax with the burden of a tax. The marginal tax rate on every additional dollar of capital gains and dividend income from corporate profits can reach as high as 44.75% at the federal level (assuming a company pays the 35% top corporate rate), not 15%.
-from the WSJ via Best of the Web.
I worry that the American people don't understand this sort of thing, even though it's pretty basic stuff. I don't think Jim Morin, the gifted political cartoonist of the Herald, does. (I'm giving him the benefit of the good-faith doubt.)
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Newt's Grandiose Thoughts
Althouse links to a list of them on a Romney website.
My favorite: "I have enormous political ambition. I want to shift the entire planet."
Is that like making the earth move, as in The Sun Also Rises? But Hemingway was writing about sex wasn't he? Maybe Newt's talking about sex, although he refers to "political ambition." But everything is politics to these people.
My second favorite is "I'm a Viking." Right, Newt.
My favorite: "I have enormous political ambition. I want to shift the entire planet."
Is that like making the earth move, as in The Sun Also Rises? But Hemingway was writing about sex wasn't he? Maybe Newt's talking about sex, although he refers to "political ambition." But everything is politics to these people.
My second favorite is "I'm a Viking." Right, Newt.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Same Sex Marriage/Unions
I'm on an estate planning listserv that a very fine New York lawyer, Sharon L. Klein of Lazard Wealth Management LLC, authors. Her email of this week includes the following on the status of pending same-sex marriage/union state legislation:
Colorado Civil Union Proposal
Pursuant to very detailed legislation introduced in Colorado on January 11, 2012, two unmarried adults over age 18, regardless of gender, would be allowed to enter into a civil union.
Parties to a civil union would be afforded many of the same benefits and protections under Colorado law as married spouses. These benefits are specifically listed in the bill and include rights of inheritance, survivorship benefits, priority for appointment as guardian, conservator or personal representative and benefits of laws regarding medical directives and care. However, the bill provides that, since Colorado income tax filings are tied to federal filings, civil union partners will be prevented from filing a joint state income tax return. The creation of a study commission to investigate state income tax treatment is proposed.
The bill provides that anyone who enters into a civil union in Colorado consents to the jurisdiction of the Colorado courts for the purpose of any action relating to the civil union, even if one or both parties cease to reside in the state.
New Jersey Same Sex Marriage Proposal
On January 10, 2012, a bill was introduced in New Jersey to recognize same sex marriage, in lieu of the civil union regime currently authorized under New Jersey law. Under the bill, marriage would be defined as the legally recognized union of two consenting persons in a committed relationship. Civil union partners would have 60 days following the bill’s enactment to dissolve their civil union, otherwise the civil union partners would be deemed married.
Washington State Same Sex Marriage Proposal
On January 13, 2012, identical legislation was introduced in the Washington House and Senate to recognize same sex marriage. The bills would allow persons over age 18 to marry regardless of gender, and, except in limited circumstances, would supplant the registered domestic partnership regime currently authorized under Washington law. The bill requires that any statute, rule or regulation referring to husband or wife be construed as gender neutral and applicable to spouses of the same sex.
Except in limited circumstances, same sex couples in a Washington registered domestic partnership would be deemed married as of June 30, 2014, unless the partnership is dissolved or converted into a marriage before that date.
Missouri Constitutional Amendment Proposed to Prohibit Same Sex Marriage Recognition
On January 9, 2012, the Missouri legislature proposed an amendment to the state constitution to prohibit Missouri from recognizing any federal action mandating the recognition of same sex marriage or civil union, or any relationship other than the marriage of one man and one woman. The amendment would be submitted to Missouri voters for their approval.
West Virginia Constitutional Amendment Proposed to Prohibit Same Sex Marriage Recognition
On January 11, 2012, the West Virginia legislature proposed an amendment to the state constitution to restrict marriage to one man and one woman, and to prohibit West Virginia from recognizing same sex marriages. The amendment would be submitted to West Virginia voters for their approval.
Wikipedia has an article that gives the current status of same-sex marriage legislation state-by-state.
Wiki also has an article on on the current status of" civil unions" or "civil partnerships." Part of that article addresses the subject in the United States.
Colorado Civil Union Proposal
Pursuant to very detailed legislation introduced in Colorado on January 11, 2012, two unmarried adults over age 18, regardless of gender, would be allowed to enter into a civil union.
Parties to a civil union would be afforded many of the same benefits and protections under Colorado law as married spouses. These benefits are specifically listed in the bill and include rights of inheritance, survivorship benefits, priority for appointment as guardian, conservator or personal representative and benefits of laws regarding medical directives and care. However, the bill provides that, since Colorado income tax filings are tied to federal filings, civil union partners will be prevented from filing a joint state income tax return. The creation of a study commission to investigate state income tax treatment is proposed.
The bill provides that anyone who enters into a civil union in Colorado consents to the jurisdiction of the Colorado courts for the purpose of any action relating to the civil union, even if one or both parties cease to reside in the state.
New Jersey Same Sex Marriage Proposal
On January 10, 2012, a bill was introduced in New Jersey to recognize same sex marriage, in lieu of the civil union regime currently authorized under New Jersey law. Under the bill, marriage would be defined as the legally recognized union of two consenting persons in a committed relationship. Civil union partners would have 60 days following the bill’s enactment to dissolve their civil union, otherwise the civil union partners would be deemed married.
Washington State Same Sex Marriage Proposal
On January 13, 2012, identical legislation was introduced in the Washington House and Senate to recognize same sex marriage. The bills would allow persons over age 18 to marry regardless of gender, and, except in limited circumstances, would supplant the registered domestic partnership regime currently authorized under Washington law. The bill requires that any statute, rule or regulation referring to husband or wife be construed as gender neutral and applicable to spouses of the same sex.
Except in limited circumstances, same sex couples in a Washington registered domestic partnership would be deemed married as of June 30, 2014, unless the partnership is dissolved or converted into a marriage before that date.
Missouri Constitutional Amendment Proposed to Prohibit Same Sex Marriage Recognition
On January 9, 2012, the Missouri legislature proposed an amendment to the state constitution to prohibit Missouri from recognizing any federal action mandating the recognition of same sex marriage or civil union, or any relationship other than the marriage of one man and one woman. The amendment would be submitted to Missouri voters for their approval.
West Virginia Constitutional Amendment Proposed to Prohibit Same Sex Marriage Recognition
On January 11, 2012, the West Virginia legislature proposed an amendment to the state constitution to restrict marriage to one man and one woman, and to prohibit West Virginia from recognizing same sex marriages. The amendment would be submitted to West Virginia voters for their approval.
Wikipedia has an article that gives the current status of same-sex marriage legislation state-by-state.
Wiki also has an article on on the current status of" civil unions" or "civil partnerships." Part of that article addresses the subject in the United States.
A Reputation for Being Very Tough Businessmen
During the 1970s there were some failures of banks known as "Edge Act" banks. An Edge Act bank could loan money only to borrowers who would use the funds off-shore. Thus, such banks would not compete with domestic banks but only foreign banks. Domestic banks, which otherwise were restricted or at a regulatory disadvantage to foreign banks in making international loans, would form Edge Act subsidiaries, which had a different set of rules. The purpose of the Edge Act was to level the playing field on which our banks played and the foreign banks played. This was before the sort of international free-for-all we have in banking and finance today.
During the 1970's, Miami became a center for Edge Act banking. I don't exactly know why. Perhaps it was because it was during that decade that the "latinization" of the community achieved critical mass. By 1970, it had been ten years since Castro took over. During that decade, the first wave of Cuban immigration washed over South Florida, and a second, smaller one, washed over again with Mariel in the early 1970s. During the 1960s, the Cubans who arrived here had been in a survival mode but by 1970 they had become well-established, thanks in large part to the generosity of our government, a generosity motivated by our anti-Communist policy and the toxic nature of the Castro regime, and to the values and character of the Cubans themselves. These "refugees" and the government policies that helped them opened a door for Miami to Latin America. So Edge Act banks popped up in downtown Miami during the early 1970s. CitiBank had one of them.
As I mentioned, we had a recession that decade, and a lot of Edge Act loans went bad. Citibank's Miami Edge Act subsidiary carried a portfolio of these non-performing loans that needed the help of lawyers. At that time, Miami's banking lawyer community was very small. Through Senator Smathers, my firm got almost all of the Citibank Edge Act business. We weren't banking lawyers in that firm at the time, we were litigators. But bank "work-outs" looked like litigation. There was so much of this business at Smathers & Thompson that everyone in the firm got at least a couple of cases. I got a couple, me, a young lawyer who had been cutting his teeth on railroad crossing accident cases. In one of those Edge Act matters, there was a Mormon on the other side, a businessman who had borrowed money from Citibank to make investments in the forest industry in Honduras.
A Mormon? We forget that Mormons send their children into the world as missionaries for a term. They come back home culturally sensitized, knowledgeable, and with a second language. Furthermore, the Mormon culture celebrates success, especially business success. It promotes a clean life-style that allows someone to focus on what the culture finds important. The Mormons are very successful business people.
And they are fairly ruthless, as I found. The Mormon borrower on the other side was very pleasant personally and courteous. He did not exactly lie, he told a version of the truth, but he was out to win, he played close to the edge. The legal cards were stacked against him, however, and we had a good "work-out," but I learned something. In talking about this experience with other people who either were Mormons or had dealt with them, I realized that the person I dealt with was a sort of typical Mormon businessman.
I do appreciate the problem of bigotry and stereotyping, but the people I spoke to seem to think that, with Mormons, one deals with something special, and one needs to be careful. They are definitely not "good old boys." We have other business stereotypes like them, stereotypes that are probably useful to a point, Jews, Chinese, Scots come to mind. These are groups who have been oppressed or discriminated against economically or politically or both, and who fall back on their wits, on education, and on strong and networked families to succeed. For at least 100 years after they appeared in American history, the Mormons developed on the margins of American culture because of their unorthodox religious and social views. Now the religious and social unorthodoxy of the social elites in America have overtaken and passed them by. Now the economic benefits of the Protestant Ethic produce a very strong and successful subculture.
Which brings me to Romney: nice looking, courteous, well-spoken, good family man. Underneath all that is focus, determination, useful experience, competence, moral decency, and a sort of ruthlessness. Frankly, I think that's what we need right now in the White House. (I don't suggest that the President lacks moral decency. He appears to me to lack some of the other qualities, however.) Romney does what he has to do to achieve the objective, whether as governor of Massachusetts, as head of the organizing committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics, as an executive with Bain, or as a Presidential candidate.
During the 1970's, Miami became a center for Edge Act banking. I don't exactly know why. Perhaps it was because it was during that decade that the "latinization" of the community achieved critical mass. By 1970, it had been ten years since Castro took over. During that decade, the first wave of Cuban immigration washed over South Florida, and a second, smaller one, washed over again with Mariel in the early 1970s. During the 1960s, the Cubans who arrived here had been in a survival mode but by 1970 they had become well-established, thanks in large part to the generosity of our government, a generosity motivated by our anti-Communist policy and the toxic nature of the Castro regime, and to the values and character of the Cubans themselves. These "refugees" and the government policies that helped them opened a door for Miami to Latin America. So Edge Act banks popped up in downtown Miami during the early 1970s. CitiBank had one of them.
As I mentioned, we had a recession that decade, and a lot of Edge Act loans went bad. Citibank's Miami Edge Act subsidiary carried a portfolio of these non-performing loans that needed the help of lawyers. At that time, Miami's banking lawyer community was very small. Through Senator Smathers, my firm got almost all of the Citibank Edge Act business. We weren't banking lawyers in that firm at the time, we were litigators. But bank "work-outs" looked like litigation. There was so much of this business at Smathers & Thompson that everyone in the firm got at least a couple of cases. I got a couple, me, a young lawyer who had been cutting his teeth on railroad crossing accident cases. In one of those Edge Act matters, there was a Mormon on the other side, a businessman who had borrowed money from Citibank to make investments in the forest industry in Honduras.
A Mormon? We forget that Mormons send their children into the world as missionaries for a term. They come back home culturally sensitized, knowledgeable, and with a second language. Furthermore, the Mormon culture celebrates success, especially business success. It promotes a clean life-style that allows someone to focus on what the culture finds important. The Mormons are very successful business people.
And they are fairly ruthless, as I found. The Mormon borrower on the other side was very pleasant personally and courteous. He did not exactly lie, he told a version of the truth, but he was out to win, he played close to the edge. The legal cards were stacked against him, however, and we had a good "work-out," but I learned something. In talking about this experience with other people who either were Mormons or had dealt with them, I realized that the person I dealt with was a sort of typical Mormon businessman.
I do appreciate the problem of bigotry and stereotyping, but the people I spoke to seem to think that, with Mormons, one deals with something special, and one needs to be careful. They are definitely not "good old boys." We have other business stereotypes like them, stereotypes that are probably useful to a point, Jews, Chinese, Scots come to mind. These are groups who have been oppressed or discriminated against economically or politically or both, and who fall back on their wits, on education, and on strong and networked families to succeed. For at least 100 years after they appeared in American history, the Mormons developed on the margins of American culture because of their unorthodox religious and social views. Now the religious and social unorthodoxy of the social elites in America have overtaken and passed them by. Now the economic benefits of the Protestant Ethic produce a very strong and successful subculture.
Which brings me to Romney: nice looking, courteous, well-spoken, good family man. Underneath all that is focus, determination, useful experience, competence, moral decency, and a sort of ruthlessness. Frankly, I think that's what we need right now in the White House. (I don't suggest that the President lacks moral decency. He appears to me to lack some of the other qualities, however.) Romney does what he has to do to achieve the objective, whether as governor of Massachusetts, as head of the organizing committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics, as an executive with Bain, or as a Presidential candidate.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Kodak Files for Bankruptcy
Not Chapter 7, which would involve a liquidation, but Chapter 11, which would involve a recapitalization, etc., with the expectation that a New Kodak would emerge that is financially viable. (This process is one that the President did not allow GM to undergo.) The federal bankruptcy judge, however, can find that there is no financially viable Kodak appropriate for Chapter 11 and can move it into Chapter 7 (as a judge could have done with a GM bankruptcy).
The company has a huge pension burden. According to the WSJ's blog, the company spent $245 million on pensions and other benefits for retirees in 2011 when it generated only $93 million:
Kodak says it has “been unable to reduce the amount of cash consumed by post-employment benefit obligations to make them proportional to a financially smaller Kodak.”
The "pension and other benefits" matter can be dealt with in Chapter 11 and in Chapter 7. The US Treasury will be on the hook for at least some of those benefits in either case.
Sad.
The company has a huge pension burden. According to the WSJ's blog, the company spent $245 million on pensions and other benefits for retirees in 2011 when it generated only $93 million:
Kodak says it has “been unable to reduce the amount of cash consumed by post-employment benefit obligations to make them proportional to a financially smaller Kodak.”
The "pension and other benefits" matter can be dealt with in Chapter 11 and in Chapter 7. The US Treasury will be on the hook for at least some of those benefits in either case.
Sad.
From the Home of Goldman Sachs and MF Global
The New York Board of Education wants to ban religious use of schools on Sunday mornings or at other times the schools are otherwise unused - even though the churches rent the space, dropping an estimated several million dollars per year into the city cashbox. If the ban prevails, more than 150 congregations will have to move to other meeting space starting next month - and that's hard to find in New York City.
-from the January 28, 2012 issue of World Magazine
As if there is no connection between Christian faith and honest, prudent financial behavior at every level, including the highest.
-from the January 28, 2012 issue of World Magazine
As if there is no connection between Christian faith and honest, prudent financial behavior at every level, including the highest.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
"The Mortal Threat from Iran"
A Mark Helprin piece in today's WSJ.
As I read this article, it dawned on me why we have been so long in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have been preparing for war with the Persians.
It would be good for Obama not to be President when that happens. But it may not wait.
As I read this article, it dawned on me why we have been so long in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have been preparing for war with the Persians.
It would be good for Obama not to be President when that happens. But it may not wait.
Abuela and her Boyfriend
Connie Barron stepped through the glass doors of Concourse J at Miami International Airport Monday afternoon and immediately saw an overwhelming sight: her three grown daughters and six grandchildren rushing to embrace her.
“We want Abuela! We want Abuela!’’ the children, ages 2 to 13, had just finished chanting when their grandmother of Pembroke Pines emerged with her boyfriend, Miamian Jesus “Jay’’ Garcia – both 62.
-from the front page of this morning's Herald, complete with a photo above the fold.
Abuela and her boyfriend Jesus are among the survivors of the Costa Concordia cruise ship.
Thus, "marriage" - or the lack of it - among the middle-aged post-moderns. It will be hard to talk the little girls out of living with their boyfriends in a few years, with Abuela's example at hand - as if someone will likely be there to raise the question with those young people.
It won't be Abuela, absent the grace of God. Yet the grace of God is already active in Abuela's life, obviously. She could not swim. She survived. And there's this from the Herald aricle:
On Friday night, after she and Garcia escaped, she slept on the floor of a church building.
There is hope for Abuela and her family. May God continue to bless them.
“We want Abuela! We want Abuela!’’ the children, ages 2 to 13, had just finished chanting when their grandmother of Pembroke Pines emerged with her boyfriend, Miamian Jesus “Jay’’ Garcia – both 62.
-from the front page of this morning's Herald, complete with a photo above the fold.
Abuela and her boyfriend Jesus are among the survivors of the Costa Concordia cruise ship.
Thus, "marriage" - or the lack of it - among the middle-aged post-moderns. It will be hard to talk the little girls out of living with their boyfriends in a few years, with Abuela's example at hand - as if someone will likely be there to raise the question with those young people.
It won't be Abuela, absent the grace of God. Yet the grace of God is already active in Abuela's life, obviously. She could not swim. She survived. And there's this from the Herald aricle:
On Friday night, after she and Garcia escaped, she slept on the floor of a church building.
There is hope for Abuela and her family. May God continue to bless them.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Evidence that the English Don't Plan on Going to War Anytime Soon
They apparently want the Scots out of Britain.
Why don't the Scots simply finish moving over here? They should bring their cousins in Northern Ireland with them.
Thanks to Instapundit for the link.
Why don't the Scots simply finish moving over here? They should bring their cousins in Northern Ireland with them.
Thanks to Instapundit for the link.
Carnival Fail
Carnival Cruise Lines owned the Costa Concordia.
Europe generated about 38 percent of Carnival’s revenue in fiscal 2010, the last full year for which geographic results are available. Its Genoa-based Costa Crociere unit is the continent’s largest cruise line based on passengers and ship capacity, according to Carnival.
-from the Link
Did you think the accident happened to some back-water Italian cruise-line?
MORE:
Luxury and efficiency make bad shipmates.
-from an article in the Atlantic magazine written a year after the loss of the Titanic.
Why do I think that this is all a metaphor for American civilization? As the Italians have arrested the captain of the Costa Crociere, do we get to arrest the ruling elites here?
Europe generated about 38 percent of Carnival’s revenue in fiscal 2010, the last full year for which geographic results are available. Its Genoa-based Costa Crociere unit is the continent’s largest cruise line based on passengers and ship capacity, according to Carnival.
-from the Link
Did you think the accident happened to some back-water Italian cruise-line?
MORE:
Luxury and efficiency make bad shipmates.
-from an article in the Atlantic magazine written a year after the loss of the Titanic.
Why do I think that this is all a metaphor for American civilization? As the Italians have arrested the captain of the Costa Crociere, do we get to arrest the ruling elites here?
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Donna at Church Bought a Carry
A Berreta PX4 Storm Type F Sub Compact in 9mm. In the parking lot after the service, we discussed starting a church gun club. Our idea is to call it the "FPC Clingers," as in people who cling to their Bibles and their Guns. I'm sure Jack would join.
James Dobson and a Bunch of Other "Evangelical Leaders" Join the Pat Robertson Club
They are supporting Rick Santorum, who is not a bad guy but does not have a chance. Why is it that my visceral reaction, and a very strong one, is that they ought to mind their own business? Of course, I felt that way about Dobson during all those years he was telling me on the radio about how I was supposed to treat my wife.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Glenn Reynolds Boosts the Glock as "America's Gun"
Here.
I wouldn't mind having one, but as a carry you can't beat the S&W revolver I keep in my pocket. To my mind, the 12 pound trigger pull is a feature not a deficit. I'm sure I will have plenty of strength to pull the trigger if, God forbid, I should ever have to unpocket the thing in self-defense. Furthermore, if I can't bring the target down with five shots at the close range for which a carry is intended, it will be over for me anyway.
I wouldn't mind having one, but as a carry you can't beat the S&W revolver I keep in my pocket. To my mind, the 12 pound trigger pull is a feature not a deficit. I'm sure I will have plenty of strength to pull the trigger if, God forbid, I should ever have to unpocket the thing in self-defense. Furthermore, if I can't bring the target down with five shots at the close range for which a carry is intended, it will be over for me anyway.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Rick Perry?
What a disappointment.
(Well, the Austin families were never hot on him. I should have known.)
(Well, the Austin families were never hot on him. I should have known.)
Thursday, January 12, 2012
"Using Interactive Tools to Assess the Liklihood of Death"
This helps answer the question, "How old are you in dog years?"
No, seriously, as an evermore elderly elder, I don't like to be lumped into an aged defined peer group that includes flesh-eaters, smokers, drinkers, drug users, and couch-potatoes by a medical system that's looking for an excuse to under-treat me because I'm going to die soon anyway.
Thanks to Althouse for the link.
No, seriously, as an evermore elderly elder, I don't like to be lumped into an aged defined peer group that includes flesh-eaters, smokers, drinkers, drug users, and couch-potatoes by a medical system that's looking for an excuse to under-treat me because I'm going to die soon anyway.
Thanks to Althouse for the link.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Where have we been?
Carol and I went to Israel with a group from First Baptist of Ft. Lauderdale. I have to say that it was just great being around a group of Southern Baptists for 10 days.
(My observations from the start of my association with God's frozen chosen have continued to be that the SBs as a group are simply friendlier people, especially to newcomers and strangers. Maybe that's why they are growing and we are shrinking. I do love my Presbyterian friends, and there are many exceptions to this general observation. But social facts - or perceptions at least - are facts. My dad, an SB who only came to our church to see his grandchildren, referred to the Presbyterian church in any given town as "that ice-house down the street.")
We will post some photos at some point and some comments on the trip. It exceeded my expectations big time.
(My observations from the start of my association with God's frozen chosen have continued to be that the SBs as a group are simply friendlier people, especially to newcomers and strangers. Maybe that's why they are growing and we are shrinking. I do love my Presbyterian friends, and there are many exceptions to this general observation. But social facts - or perceptions at least - are facts. My dad, an SB who only came to our church to see his grandchildren, referred to the Presbyterian church in any given town as "that ice-house down the street.")
We will post some photos at some point and some comments on the trip. It exceeded my expectations big time.
Not Scarcity but Plenty
Thirty years ago I assisted a former chairman of Texaco with his estate planning. Along the way, he gave me a paper to read about the history of oil discovery. The thesis of that paper was, essentially, that we were not going to run out of the stuff anytime soon. The paper recounted the cycles of perceived plenty and perceived scarcity, with the doomsayers in full-throat during the down part of those cycles. Yet there was always another find or another technology developed to rejuvenate abandoned wells or to reach depths considered unreachable or to process crude that once seemed too expensive to process.
Here we go again on the upside - this piled on top of the recent oil-shale and natural gas discoveries here in the US. Thanks to Instapundit for the link.
Here we go again on the upside - this piled on top of the recent oil-shale and natural gas discoveries here in the US. Thanks to Instapundit for the link.
Monday, December 26, 2011
A Few Days Before the New Year . . .
A terribly bleak view of the future of our country.
I notice that someone's stealing copper from streetlights again on I-95.
I notice that someone's stealing copper from streetlights again on I-95.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
How One Handles a Sneeze as a Sign of God's Calling
Yesterday Mary described scrub protocols in the operating room. She said that surgeons learn to "swallow" their sneezes. (We asked her about itches and runny noses, but those are distinct subjects that require their own posts, respectively. This post is about sneezes.)
I inherited Juanita's explosive sneeze. Here was a college educated, Southern lady, who, when she sneezed, raised the roof. Those sneezes echoed around our neighborhood. Dogs started barking. When cars began to come with alarms, the alarms went off. People who knew the source, usually laughed. The uninformed were astonished.
Carol's sneezes make hardly a sound. Imagine a chipmunk sneezing, and there you have it. But Carol can't stand the sight of blood.
I don't mind the sight of blood so much, but I have do have Juanita's sneeze.
Mary's doing well with the sight of blood and she sneezes quietly. Well, then, there you have it. Surgery.
I inherited Juanita's explosive sneeze. Here was a college educated, Southern lady, who, when she sneezed, raised the roof. Those sneezes echoed around our neighborhood. Dogs started barking. When cars began to come with alarms, the alarms went off. People who knew the source, usually laughed. The uninformed were astonished.
Carol's sneezes make hardly a sound. Imagine a chipmunk sneezing, and there you have it. But Carol can't stand the sight of blood.
I don't mind the sight of blood so much, but I have do have Juanita's sneeze.
Mary's doing well with the sight of blood and she sneezes quietly. Well, then, there you have it. Surgery.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Christmas Eve Breakfast at Crandon Park
Temperature in the mid 70s, a very light breeze, soft, bright winter sunlight, and two of my very favorite people.
Friday, December 23, 2011
"It's just math."
P.V.T surface model for water.
As Mary is fond of saying, "Physics is just math." (Does she quote Koski?) The model is simply a three-dimensional graph.
In fact, everything is just math. Like this is just physics, is justmath, (More on the new particle here.)
As Mary is fond of saying, "Physics is just math." (Does she quote Koski?) The model is simply a three-dimensional graph.
In fact, everything is just math. Like this is just physics, is justmath, (More on the new particle here.)
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Romney's Right Answers on Iraq
A journalist named Byron York wrote this article entitled "Romney changes stance on Iraq." York writes for the Washington Examiner, a conservative counterpart to the Washington Post. As the title to the article indicates, York's thesis is that Romney changed his position on the war in Iraq over the course of a couple of interviews during the past week or two. (Instapundit links this article.)
But a careful reading of the article doesn't show the changes that York contends occurred. I find Romney's answers consistent and forthright about whether it would have been appropriate for our country to have have gone to war in Iraq had it had the proper intelligence concerning WMDs. Furthermore, his answers are valid.
What good is history if we don't learn from it?
The narrative of the war quickly turned to that of "nation-building" when our armies found no WMDs. The Constantinian idea of imposing a healthy national culture from the top down is more evidence that politicians ignore their history at the peril of the rest of us.
But a careful reading of the article doesn't show the changes that York contends occurred. I find Romney's answers consistent and forthright about whether it would have been appropriate for our country to have have gone to war in Iraq had it had the proper intelligence concerning WMDs. Furthermore, his answers are valid.
What good is history if we don't learn from it?
The narrative of the war quickly turned to that of "nation-building" when our armies found no WMDs. The Constantinian idea of imposing a healthy national culture from the top down is more evidence that politicians ignore their history at the peril of the rest of us.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
The Market Will Get after Red China, Just as it Did the Soviet Union
Rant in the Middle of the Night
As for [University of Connecticut's president Susan] Herbst’s claim that the humanities “teach us how we’re supposed to live,” this is true; rather, it was true, up until about 50 years ago. The last two generations of college students have been taught by their humanities and social-science professors that principles regarding “how we’re supposed to live” are merely “values,” and that all values are as good as any others. Moral and cultural relativism are the thin gruel that the universities feed their students’ hungry souls.
-from "The Humanities Real Enemies," by Thomas K. Lindsay, linked to by Instapundit.
This cultural relativism like the plague infects PC(USA). What pushed me over the edge happened about a 9 months ago when a freshly minted seminary grad was admitted to Presbytery on a split vote after she, during examination, said something like, "Jesus is the Savior for me, but for others . . . "
Please wash my mouth out with soap the next time I say "my tradition holds that . . . "
The Creed begins "I believe in God the Father Almighty , , ,," not "I believe in a god, I call Father Almighty . . . " He is not God the Father Almighty to me, he is God the Father Almighty period. When I speak the Creed, I'm telling you "I get it," like "I get calculus" (or once I did, anyway). I'm not telling you how I feel. Whether I get it or not, God the Father Almighty or calculus, has nothing to do with the authenticity of the fact.
And speaking of the Creed and relativism, don't you hate "Holy Christian Church" when it's "holy catholic Church." Give me a break.
-from "The Humanities Real Enemies," by Thomas K. Lindsay, linked to by Instapundit.
This cultural relativism like the plague infects PC(USA). What pushed me over the edge happened about a 9 months ago when a freshly minted seminary grad was admitted to Presbytery on a split vote after she, during examination, said something like, "Jesus is the Savior for me, but for others . . . "
Please wash my mouth out with soap the next time I say "my tradition holds that . . . "
The Creed begins "I believe in God the Father Almighty , , ,," not "I believe in a god, I call Father Almighty . . . " He is not God the Father Almighty to me, he is God the Father Almighty period. When I speak the Creed, I'm telling you "I get it," like "I get calculus" (or once I did, anyway). I'm not telling you how I feel. Whether I get it or not, God the Father Almighty or calculus, has nothing to do with the authenticity of the fact.
And speaking of the Creed and relativism, don't you hate "Holy Christian Church" when it's "holy catholic Church." Give me a break.
Monday, December 19, 2011
And the Answer?
The 5-foot, 6-inch arthritic, diabetic man weighed 185 pounds the first day of his [plant-based] diet on July 28. Today, he's an energetic, nonmedicated, 140-pound feel-good guy on a mission.
-From the Oklahoman.
When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
-From John 5: 1-9.
-From the Oklahoman.
When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
-From John 5: 1-9.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Sing and Make Music in Your Heart to the Lord!
I Thessalonians 5:16-18: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4: 4-7: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 5: 19-20: Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 4: 4-7: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 5: 19-20: Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
"Social Skills"
Glenn Reynolds links to this post at the Penelope Trunk Blog - Advice at the Intersection of Work and Life. One of the "Social Skills" Penelope lists is "Paying Attention to Personality Types." She refers to the granddaddy (my description, not Penelope's, but should I say "grandmother?") of personality tests, the Myers-Briggs. (Penelope's blog is worth a regular look, by the way.)
At our men's breakfast yesterday morning, we read 1 Samuel 11. We began talking about leadership skills, because the scripture describes Saul's leadership in response to a crisis. (He is empowered by the "Spirit of God," a small detail). That discussion lead to a discussion of personality tests. (Do you suppose we may have missed the point?)
Coincidentally, at our firm we have recently undertaken personality assessments with the help of an HR consultant. I am again reminded of what an odd fellow I really am.
Come, Holy Spirit.
At our men's breakfast yesterday morning, we read 1 Samuel 11. We began talking about leadership skills, because the scripture describes Saul's leadership in response to a crisis. (He is empowered by the "Spirit of God," a small detail). That discussion lead to a discussion of personality tests. (Do you suppose we may have missed the point?)
Coincidentally, at our firm we have recently undertaken personality assessments with the help of an HR consultant. I am again reminded of what an odd fellow I really am.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Staying or Leaving
My personal calculus is this: I can envision no likely circumstances under which my theologically diverse congregation in Washington, DC, would leave the PCUSA. I have deep ties to that congregation, going back to my maternal grandmother, and I believe God has planted me there for his purposes. I have taken vows as a member, deacon, and elder within that congregation and the PCUSA. I see nothing that prevents me from fulfilling those vows, and carrying out the ministries to which God has called me, within that congregation. So I will be staying.
Yet others face a different personal calculus, and they will choose to leave the PCUSA. Can we still bless one another, as Esau and Jacob blessed one another in their maturity (Genesis 33)? Can we allow the possibility that God may be calling different ones among his servants to serve in different places?
-Alan Wisdom (last June) of the Institute on Religion and Democracy
(Yes, to his two questions, although most of the members at FPC Miami Springs, I believe, will vote to leave.)
Yet others face a different personal calculus, and they will choose to leave the PCUSA. Can we still bless one another, as Esau and Jacob blessed one another in their maturity (Genesis 33)? Can we allow the possibility that God may be calling different ones among his servants to serve in different places?
-Alan Wisdom (last June) of the Institute on Religion and Democracy
(Yes, to his two questions, although most of the members at FPC Miami Springs, I believe, will vote to leave.)
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Away in a Manger? No, at Home in the Manger.
In traditional Middle Eastern villages, one would find mangers in the typical one or two room homes, one room being the "family room" and the other, if there were another, the "guest room," according to Bailey. At one end of the family room, immediately at the single door through which one entered the little house, the family's animals entered too. The family brought them in at night. The animals stayed there, at ground level adjacent to the door, safe from thieves and providing warmth with their body heat. There were no "barns" or "stables," no separate quarters for animals.
The family slept in the same room, but on a sort of dais or raised floor. The floor slanted slightly, toward the end of the room where the animals stayed at night, so that when the floor was cleaned and washed, the water drained to the lower portion by the door. (There were steps from the raised floor, down to the part where the animals stayed.)
On the raised portion of the floor, next to the part where the animals stayed, the builders would have made two bucket-like holes, accessible to the animals. They were the mangers, kept filled with straw, so the animals would have something to eat. That's where Mary laid baby Jesus. (Some houses may have had mangers fashioned from wooden boxes.)
There were no "inns" in Bethlehem. That word should have been translated "guest room," the second room that some houses would have. In the particular home where Mary and Joseph stayed, there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the guest room. It was occupied. So they stayed in the family room, with the family that owned the house.
No self-respecting village would have refused a pregnant woman hospitality. Besides, Mary and Joseph were "royals," Bailey writes. They were of the house and lineage of David. And Bethlehem, after all, was the City of David.
The family slept in the same room, but on a sort of dais or raised floor. The floor slanted slightly, toward the end of the room where the animals stayed at night, so that when the floor was cleaned and washed, the water drained to the lower portion by the door. (There were steps from the raised floor, down to the part where the animals stayed.)
On the raised portion of the floor, next to the part where the animals stayed, the builders would have made two bucket-like holes, accessible to the animals. They were the mangers, kept filled with straw, so the animals would have something to eat. That's where Mary laid baby Jesus. (Some houses may have had mangers fashioned from wooden boxes.)
There were no "inns" in Bethlehem. That word should have been translated "guest room," the second room that some houses would have. In the particular home where Mary and Joseph stayed, there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the guest room. It was occupied. So they stayed in the family room, with the family that owned the house.
No self-respecting village would have refused a pregnant woman hospitality. Besides, Mary and Joseph were "royals," Bailey writes. They were of the house and lineage of David. And Bethlehem, after all, was the City of David.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes; the PC(USA) Through Middle Eastern (African, etc.) Eyes
Alec Hill sent us three IVP books after his visit to our home. One of them is Kenneth E. Bailey's Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels. We've heard of this book, are simply delighted to receive it, and sadly reminded of what Dr. Bailey said about the PC(USA) and the Article 10-A decision.
I posted on what Dr. Bailey said this past September. It's worth linking again to his article for PFR, and reposting this quote from that article:
The recent decision to change our ordination standards is a rejection of Scripture and tradition as understood by more than one billion Roman Catholics. It is also an offense to more than 300 million Eastern Orthodox in their various communities in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and around the globe.
Western Christianity has been the “superpower” of the Christian world for more than a thousand years. Across the centuries we were able to define what it meant to be a Christian. This is no longer the case. As is well-known, the numerical center of the Christian world has moved South and East. That “global South” is becoming more and more important for the larger body of Christ and they (along with the Catholics and Eastern Orthodox) will see us as having departed from Scripture and tradition as the Church everywhere has known it for two millennia. Our relationships with them are now freshly damaged.
I posted on what Dr. Bailey said this past September. It's worth linking again to his article for PFR, and reposting this quote from that article:
The recent decision to change our ordination standards is a rejection of Scripture and tradition as understood by more than one billion Roman Catholics. It is also an offense to more than 300 million Eastern Orthodox in their various communities in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and around the globe.
Western Christianity has been the “superpower” of the Christian world for more than a thousand years. Across the centuries we were able to define what it meant to be a Christian. This is no longer the case. As is well-known, the numerical center of the Christian world has moved South and East. That “global South” is becoming more and more important for the larger body of Christ and they (along with the Catholics and Eastern Orthodox) will see us as having departed from Scripture and tradition as the Church everywhere has known it for two millennia. Our relationships with them are now freshly damaged.
Be an "Obstinate Christian"
Carol took note of Pliny's complaint about "obstinate" Christians in the quote in my post immediately below. Some of the Christians that fell into his clutches refused to renounce Christ and worship the Emperor, and some did not refuse. The compliant ones he simply let go. The "obstinate ones" he killed. We don't run such a risk these days. There's no good reason not to be obstinate about holding on to our faith.
Christians and Sexual Immorality
Eighty percent of young, unmarried Christians have had sex. Two-thirds have been sexually active in the last year. Even though, according to a recent Gallup poll, 76 percent of evangelicals believe sex outside of marriage is morally wrong.
-Relevant Magazine, September/October 2011 Issue.
22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. 23 With them they sent the following letter:
The apostles and elders, your brothers,
To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Farewell.
-Acts 15:22-29
But Pliny [the Younger, Roman governor of Bithynia, a region on the north shore of what is now Turkey, persecutor of Christians during the Second Century] considered himself a just man, and therefore felt obliged to find out what crimes, besides sheer obstinacy, Christians committed. All he could learn was that Christians gathered before dawn to sing to Christ "as to a god," and to join in an oath not to commit theft, adultery, or any such sins . . .
-Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1 at page 40 (1st ed. 1984)
What Carol and I have seen is that this sort of disobedience is not confined to "young, unmarried Christians," but to unmarried Christian adults of all ages. Such conduct has seriously weakened our local church and its mission. I suggest that this problem is at the heart of the movement under way of many PC(USA) churches out of that denomination. It is not about homosexuality, it is about sexual immorality, regardless of how one self-identifies concerning "sexual preference." It is a good reason to leave, as much as I would prefer not to concede that it is.
-Relevant Magazine, September/October 2011 Issue.
22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. 23 With them they sent the following letter:
The apostles and elders, your brothers,
To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Farewell.
-Acts 15:22-29
But Pliny [the Younger, Roman governor of Bithynia, a region on the north shore of what is now Turkey, persecutor of Christians during the Second Century] considered himself a just man, and therefore felt obliged to find out what crimes, besides sheer obstinacy, Christians committed. All he could learn was that Christians gathered before dawn to sing to Christ "as to a god," and to join in an oath not to commit theft, adultery, or any such sins . . .
-Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1 at page 40 (1st ed. 1984)
What Carol and I have seen is that this sort of disobedience is not confined to "young, unmarried Christians," but to unmarried Christian adults of all ages. Such conduct has seriously weakened our local church and its mission. I suggest that this problem is at the heart of the movement under way of many PC(USA) churches out of that denomination. It is not about homosexuality, it is about sexual immorality, regardless of how one self-identifies concerning "sexual preference." It is a good reason to leave, as much as I would prefer not to concede that it is.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Our Brothers, the Roman Catholics, Have a New Missal
Deacon Greg Kandra writes about it.
Yesterday at our Men's Breakfast, Gary Cameron, Area Director for InverVarsity, said that he thinks that the RCs may right now have a better grasp on what it means to live the Christian life than the Protestants.
Yesterday at our Men's Breakfast, Gary Cameron, Area Director for InverVarsity, said that he thinks that the RCs may right now have a better grasp on what it means to live the Christian life than the Protestants.
A Thoughtful Article on Tebow in the WSJ
It's here, but you probably need a subscription to view it on the WSJ's online service. (Sometimes I can find full copies of WSJ articles at other websites, if I google it. I'm not sure why.)
An interesting quote from that article I can reproduce:
At the national level, however, big-time sports is big business, with billions of dollars at stake, and Americans tend to be cynical about the whole show. In this world, Mr. Tebow's frequent professions of faith can come across as a discordant note, equal parts over-earnestness and naïveté. It's hard to resist the thought that, eventually, a darker reality will show through.
Mr. Tebow may indeed turn out to be a hypocrite, like other high-profile Christians in recent memory. Some of us might even want that to happen, because moral failure is something we understand. We know how to deal with disappointed expectations, to turn our songs of praise into condemnation.
What we are far less sure how to do is to take seriously a public figure's seemingly admirable character and professions of higher purpose. We don't know how to trust goodness.
And who can blame us? We don't want to be fooled again.
Patton Dodd wrote the article. The WSJ editors describe him as follows: "Mr. Dodd is the managing editor of the website Patheos [worth looking at] and a former senior editor at Beliefnet. This article is adapted from his e-book, "The Tebow Mystique: The Faith and Fans of Football's Most Polarizing Player."
The article refers to a link called Tebowing.com, which is sympathetic to Tembow. (Somebody might buy me a T-shirt from that site for Christmas. I'm buying Sam one.)
Friday, December 09, 2011
From Writing-it-Out/Keyboard to Dictation/Keyboard to Dictation/Dragon: Part I
By the time I graduated from law school, I had done a lot of writing. My tools were the pencil, writing paper, a portable electric type-writer from Sears that I acquired at the end of my senior year in high school, index cards, scissors, scotch tape, and, toward the latter part of my student career, photo-copy machines. I didn't do very well using the type-writer directly. Instead, I usually "wrote-out" a first draft, made some annotations and changes directly on that draft, and then transcribed that draft to a type-written text. As I typed I would make more changes.
Next, on the clean type-written draft, I made more changes and corrections with my pencil. I would make more changes until the draft became messy, at which point I typed another transcription. I might go through several cycles of typing and hand-writing on the typed transcript. During these cycles I would often cut up the manuscript into paragraph pieces, rearrange the paragraphs, and then tape the thing together.
When the paper involved research, as it often did, I had index cards on which I wrote quotations from various sources. I would scotch tape the index cards into the right place during the cycle. Photocopy machines were just coming in, and Duke had a copy center, so I began to take books over to the center, especially library books, to get copies made of certain pages. I would take the scissors to those pages and scotch-tape slices to the current draft.
When I was working on a big paper at Duke, I used a type-writing service. There were secretaries in the administration offices who would take one's draft home and type it up for a fee. So as I was cycling through the process of producing the paper, I might get to the point where I would take my last type-written draft, one on which I had made relatively few and legible changes by hand, to one of these secretaries for a close-to final draft, get it back, decide whether it was good enough (it was never good enough on an absolute basis, but it was often good enough in terms of the time had left before I had to turn it in), and then either use it or cycle back one more time to the secretary for the final. One advantage to the secretary was that I could get away from the paper for awhile, and then get back with my mind refreshed to a nice, clean, professionally produced manuscript.
Next, on the clean type-written draft, I made more changes and corrections with my pencil. I would make more changes until the draft became messy, at which point I typed another transcription. I might go through several cycles of typing and hand-writing on the typed transcript. During these cycles I would often cut up the manuscript into paragraph pieces, rearrange the paragraphs, and then tape the thing together.
When the paper involved research, as it often did, I had index cards on which I wrote quotations from various sources. I would scotch tape the index cards into the right place during the cycle. Photocopy machines were just coming in, and Duke had a copy center, so I began to take books over to the center, especially library books, to get copies made of certain pages. I would take the scissors to those pages and scotch-tape slices to the current draft.
When I was working on a big paper at Duke, I used a type-writing service. There were secretaries in the administration offices who would take one's draft home and type it up for a fee. So as I was cycling through the process of producing the paper, I might get to the point where I would take my last type-written draft, one on which I had made relatively few and legible changes by hand, to one of these secretaries for a close-to final draft, get it back, decide whether it was good enough (it was never good enough on an absolute basis, but it was often good enough in terms of the time had left before I had to turn it in), and then either use it or cycle back one more time to the secretary for the final. One advantage to the secretary was that I could get away from the paper for awhile, and then get back with my mind refreshed to a nice, clean, professionally produced manuscript.
Dragon for the Mac
I've had success with with Dragon Naturally Speaking via my desktop at the office, which is a PC. There is a Mac version of this product, Dragon Dictate.
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Tebow and Denver beat the Vikings
What Tim Tebow is doing for the Denver Broncos must be considered the top story in the NFL this year. After enduring incessant criticism and hatred from the media and so-called NFL experts, Tebow has now led the Broncos to first place in the AFC West.
-Patrick Michael at Yahoo Sports.
Bronco's defense not available for victory attribution this week. So what (that is, who) is the common denominator here?
More from Patrick Michael at the Yahoo link:
In fairness to the Broncos defense, they also forced two huge interceptions. And RB Willis McGahee rushed for 111 yards. However, Tebow was impressive as a… (Dare I say it?) passer! Gasp! On the day, Tebow was 10-15 for 202 yards and two TDs. More telling is fact that Tebow only rushed for 13 yards on four carries.
This leads to a startling potential conclusion. Could it be that Tebow is actually improving as a passer? Is it possible that NFL defenses will have to start game planning for Tebow the passer and runner? Could it be that John Elway better start scouting WRs instead of QBs? The critics may lose their minds.
-Patrick Michael at Yahoo Sports.
Bronco's defense not available for victory attribution this week. So what (that is, who) is the common denominator here?
More from Patrick Michael at the Yahoo link:
In fairness to the Broncos defense, they also forced two huge interceptions. And RB Willis McGahee rushed for 111 yards. However, Tebow was impressive as a… (Dare I say it?) passer! Gasp! On the day, Tebow was 10-15 for 202 yards and two TDs. More telling is fact that Tebow only rushed for 13 yards on four carries.
This leads to a startling potential conclusion. Could it be that Tebow is actually improving as a passer? Is it possible that NFL defenses will have to start game planning for Tebow the passer and runner? Could it be that John Elway better start scouting WRs instead of QBs? The critics may lose their minds.
Friday, December 02, 2011
"Covertly Conscious"
Three hospitalized, brain-damaged men who were unresponsive and apparently unconscious of their surroundings caught observers by surprise when they repeatedly responded to commands by researchers. Although the men, diagnosed as vegetative, couldn't physically move or speak, a headset of electrodes measured their brain activity after neurologists asked them to imagine wiggling their toes or clenching a fist. One of the patients responded over 100 times, the researchers reported in The Lancet, a British medical journal. Roughly 20,000 Americans are living in a persistent vegetative state—a condition of being awake but presumably unaware. That condition led to a national outcry over the late Terri Schiavo, whose feeding tube was removed in 2005. The results of the new study suggest one-fifth of these patients might actually retain consciousness. A brain scanning system could enable them to communicate with their families.
-from World magazine's December 3, 2011 issue, p. 10
The abstract from The Lancet article is here.
-from World magazine's December 3, 2011 issue, p. 10
The abstract from The Lancet article is here.
Thursday, December 01, 2011
"The Issue is One of Solvency, Not Liquidity"
Mr. King said provisions of liquidity — such as the concerted central bank action taken by the BOE [Bank of England], U.S. Federal Reserve and other major peers Wednesday — won't solve the euro zone's problems in the long term because the issue is one of solvency, not liquidity.
-from today's WSJ. Mr. King is Governor of the Bank of England.
The market brought down the Soviet Empire. The euro zone is a bump in the road next to that. The US is a bit more than a bump, but it has no special exemption either. The British, according to the article, are getting ready for the zone's fall. I trust we are as well, even as we, along with the BOE "and other peers," are throwing more money at the crisis. I suppose those actions are window dressing, so that when the zone finally goes down, we can say that we tried.
-from today's WSJ. Mr. King is Governor of the Bank of England.
The market brought down the Soviet Empire. The euro zone is a bump in the road next to that. The US is a bit more than a bump, but it has no special exemption either. The British, according to the article, are getting ready for the zone's fall. I trust we are as well, even as we, along with the BOE "and other peers," are throwing more money at the crisis. I suppose those actions are window dressing, so that when the zone finally goes down, we can say that we tried.
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