Monday, November 23, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Outer, Inner - GKC
"The outer ring of Christianity," wrote G. K. Chesterton in Orthodoxy, one hundred years ago, "is a rigid guard of ethical abnegations and professional priests; but inside that inhuman guard you will find the old human life dancing like children, and drinking wine like men; for Christianity is the only frame for pagan freedom."
His next sentence is as chilling as the previous is warming. "But in the modern philosophy the case is the opposite; it is its outer ring that is obviously artistic and emancipated; its despair is within."
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/septemberweb-only/135-51.0.html
His next sentence is as chilling as the previous is warming. "But in the modern philosophy the case is the opposite; it is its outer ring that is obviously artistic and emancipated; its despair is within."
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/septemberweb-only/135-51.0.html
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Terry Goodkind's Law
Wizard's First Rule:
People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true. People’s heads are full of knowledge, facts, and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool.
People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true. People’s heads are full of knowledge, facts, and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
What Does Health Insurance Cost?
from http://www.gormogons.com/2009/08/with-tremendously-important-debate.html
With the tremendously important debate currently taking place regarding the perceived need for healthcare reform and the government’s alleged responsibility to provide coverage for every person in this country – which your Mandarin can guarantee will include those in the country illegally through a blanket amnesty program, but that is another topic for another time – I began to wonder how much does health insurance actually cost.
So I spent some time today on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois web site today to do some research. There were 9 different plans to choose from that ranged from all encompassing to hospitalization only. For purposes of this research I focused on two plans:
• Blue Choice Select:
o $5,000,000.00 Lifetime Benefit
o $30.00 Office Visit Co-pay
o Drug Card with $10.00 Co-pay for Generics
o $6,000.00 (Family of 4*)/$3,000 (Individual**) Out of Pocket Limit
o $756.02 (Family of 4*)/$233.29 (Individual**) Monthly Premium
• Basic Blue:
o $5,000,000.00 Lifetime Benefit
o $3,000.00 (Family of 4*)/$1,000.00 (Individual**) Out of Pocket Limit
o $558.10 (Family of 4*)/$172.21 (Individual**) Monthly Premium
So doing some basic math and making some assumptions, I choose to tackle the 47,000,000 uninsured people out there. Let’s assume that of that number, 15,000,000 are illegal immigrants and should be excluded, another 10,000,000 are children that could be covered under existing programs such as SCHIP, but their parents are too lazy to fill out the paper work, and another 10,000,000 are those 18 to 35 year olds that think they are indestructible and don’t need insurance. Having subtracted those 35,000,000 people from the equation we are left with 12,000,000 people that do not have access to health insurance either due to affordability, unemployment, or the transitioning from one job to another. Once again I feel the need to state that while they may not have health insurance, they are not excluded from receiving emergency healthcare.
Now if we take 12,000,000 and multiply that by the monthly cost of the Blue Choice Select individual monthly premium you get a cost of $2.8 Billion per month or $33.6 Billion per year. If you take that same number and multiply it by the monthly cost of the Basic Blue individual monthly premium you get a cost of $2.1 Billion per month or $24.8 Billion per year.
With the tremendously important debate currently taking place regarding the perceived need for healthcare reform and the government’s alleged responsibility to provide coverage for every person in this country – which your Mandarin can guarantee will include those in the country illegally through a blanket amnesty program, but that is another topic for another time – I began to wonder how much does health insurance actually cost.
So I spent some time today on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois web site today to do some research. There were 9 different plans to choose from that ranged from all encompassing to hospitalization only. For purposes of this research I focused on two plans:
• Blue Choice Select:
o $5,000,000.00 Lifetime Benefit
o $30.00 Office Visit Co-pay
o Drug Card with $10.00 Co-pay for Generics
o $6,000.00 (Family of 4*)/$3,000 (Individual**) Out of Pocket Limit
o $756.02 (Family of 4*)/$233.29 (Individual**) Monthly Premium
• Basic Blue:
o $5,000,000.00 Lifetime Benefit
o $3,000.00 (Family of 4*)/$1,000.00 (Individual**) Out of Pocket Limit
o $558.10 (Family of 4*)/$172.21 (Individual**) Monthly Premium
So doing some basic math and making some assumptions, I choose to tackle the 47,000,000 uninsured people out there. Let’s assume that of that number, 15,000,000 are illegal immigrants and should be excluded, another 10,000,000 are children that could be covered under existing programs such as SCHIP, but their parents are too lazy to fill out the paper work, and another 10,000,000 are those 18 to 35 year olds that think they are indestructible and don’t need insurance. Having subtracted those 35,000,000 people from the equation we are left with 12,000,000 people that do not have access to health insurance either due to affordability, unemployment, or the transitioning from one job to another. Once again I feel the need to state that while they may not have health insurance, they are not excluded from receiving emergency healthcare.
Now if we take 12,000,000 and multiply that by the monthly cost of the Blue Choice Select individual monthly premium you get a cost of $2.8 Billion per month or $33.6 Billion per year. If you take that same number and multiply it by the monthly cost of the Basic Blue individual monthly premium you get a cost of $2.1 Billion per month or $24.8 Billion per year.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Walt Disney was a Congregationalist, sort of
http://www.disneydreamer.com/Waltfaith.htm
http://www.mouseplanet.com/8181/The_Gospel_According_to_Walt
. . . and this excerpt is just fascinating, pages 15-21:
http://books.google.com/books?id=YGtbYTyulb4C&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17&dq=walt+disney+religion+church+faith&source=bl&ots=SqX3qjgQ88&sig=PBDiJ8GrYhbBk6QWzTr_uLbQeDw&hl=en&ei=LsuCSpG2C5eCtgfsvNnECg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#v=onepage&q=walt%20disney%20religion%20church%20faith&f=false
http://www.mouseplanet.com/8181/The_Gospel_According_to_Walt
. . . and this excerpt is just fascinating, pages 15-21:
http://books.google.com/books?id=YGtbYTyulb4C&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17&dq=walt+disney+religion+church+faith&source=bl&ots=SqX3qjgQ88&sig=PBDiJ8GrYhbBk6QWzTr_uLbQeDw&hl=en&ei=LsuCSpG2C5eCtgfsvNnECg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#v=onepage&q=walt%20disney%20religion%20church%20faith&f=false
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Angel Food Ministries Has Some 'Splaining To Do, Lucy
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2009/02/27/angel_food_ministries_sued.html
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2009/03/02/angel_food_ministries.html
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2009/03/04/angel0304.html
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2009/03/07/angelfood0307.html
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2009/03/30/angel_food_ministries.html
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2009/03/02/angel_food_ministries.html
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2009/03/04/angel0304.html
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2009/03/07/angelfood0307.html
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2009/03/30/angel_food_ministries.html
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Mainline Clergy Surveyed
http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=6579
The fact that the pastors say their congregations feel pretty much as they do does not, necessarily, mean that they do.
The fact that the pastors say their congregations feel pretty much as they do does not, necessarily, mean that they do.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Prehistory From the Water's Eye View
http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/travel/05dordogne.html
Make sure to click the slide show and get to number 6.
Make sure to click the slide show and get to number 6.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
from Daniel Patrick Moynihan
“The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself.”
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
What is Happiness?
If we want to know where America as a whole is headed--its destination--we should look to Europe.
Drive through rural Sweden, as I did a few years ago. In every town was a beautiful Lutheran church, freshly painted, on meticulously tended grounds, all subsidized by the Swedish government. And the churches are empty. Including on Sundays. Scandinavia and Western Europe pride themselves on their "child-friendly" policies, providing generous child allowances, free day-care centers, and long maternity leaves. Those same countries have fertility rates far below replacement and plunging marriage rates. Those same countries are ones in which jobs are most carefully protected by government regulation and mandated benefits are most lavish. And they, with only a few exceptions, are countries where work is most often seen as a necessary evil, least often seen as a vocation, and where the proportions of people who say they love their jobs are the lowest.
What's happening? Call it the Europe syndrome. Last April I had occasion to speak in Zurich, where I made some of these same points. After the speech, a few of the twenty-something members of the audience approached and said plainly that the phrase "a life well-lived" did not have meaning for them. They were having a great time with their current sex partner and new BMW and the vacation home in Majorca, and saw no voids in their lives that needed filling.
It was fascinating to hear it said to my face, but not surprising. It conformed to both journalistic and scholarly accounts of a spreading European mentality. Let me emphasize "spreading." I'm not talking about all Europeans, by any means. That mentality goes something like this: Human beings are a collection of chemicals that activate and, after a period of time, deactivate. The purpose of life is to while away the intervening time as pleasantly as possible.
http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.29531/pub_detail.asp
Drive through rural Sweden, as I did a few years ago. In every town was a beautiful Lutheran church, freshly painted, on meticulously tended grounds, all subsidized by the Swedish government. And the churches are empty. Including on Sundays. Scandinavia and Western Europe pride themselves on their "child-friendly" policies, providing generous child allowances, free day-care centers, and long maternity leaves. Those same countries have fertility rates far below replacement and plunging marriage rates. Those same countries are ones in which jobs are most carefully protected by government regulation and mandated benefits are most lavish. And they, with only a few exceptions, are countries where work is most often seen as a necessary evil, least often seen as a vocation, and where the proportions of people who say they love their jobs are the lowest.
What's happening? Call it the Europe syndrome. Last April I had occasion to speak in Zurich, where I made some of these same points. After the speech, a few of the twenty-something members of the audience approached and said plainly that the phrase "a life well-lived" did not have meaning for them. They were having a great time with their current sex partner and new BMW and the vacation home in Majorca, and saw no voids in their lives that needed filling.
It was fascinating to hear it said to my face, but not surprising. It conformed to both journalistic and scholarly accounts of a spreading European mentality. Let me emphasize "spreading." I'm not talking about all Europeans, by any means. That mentality goes something like this: Human beings are a collection of chemicals that activate and, after a period of time, deactivate. The purpose of life is to while away the intervening time as pleasantly as possible.
http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.29531/pub_detail.asp
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Who, Us?
Yeah, you.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123664427493678121.html
A WSJ Editorial: The Charity Revolt
Among those shocked by President Obama's 2010 budget, the most surprising are the true-blue liberals who run most of America's nonprofits, universities and charities. How dare he limit tax deductions for charitable giving! They're afraid they'll get fewer donations, but they should be more concerned that Mr. Obama's policies will shove them aside in favor of the New Charity State.
What did these nonprofit liberals expect, anyway? Mr. Obama is proposing a vast expansion of the entitlement state, and he has to find some way to pay for it. So logically enough, one of his ideas for funding public welfare is to reduce the tax benefit for private charity. His budget proposes to raise the top personal income tax rate to 39.6% in 2011 from 35%, and the 33% rate to 36% while reducing the tax benefit from itemized deductions for the top two brackets to 28% from 35% and 33%, respectively. The White House estimates the deduction reduction will yield $318 billion in revenue over 10 years.
From the Ivy League to the United Jewish Appeal, petitions and manifestos are in the works. The Independent Sector, otherwise eager to praise the Obama budget, worries the tax change "could be a disincentive to some donors." According to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, total itemized contributions from the highest income households would have dropped 4.8% -- or $3.87 billion -- in 2006 if the Obama policy had been in place. That year, Americans gave $186.6 billion to charity, more than 40% from those in the highest tax bracket. A back of the envelope calculation by the Tax Policy Center, a left-of-center think tank, estimates the Obama plan will reduce annual giving by 2%, or some $9 billion.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123664427493678121.html
A WSJ Editorial: The Charity Revolt
Among those shocked by President Obama's 2010 budget, the most surprising are the true-blue liberals who run most of America's nonprofits, universities and charities. How dare he limit tax deductions for charitable giving! They're afraid they'll get fewer donations, but they should be more concerned that Mr. Obama's policies will shove them aside in favor of the New Charity State.
What did these nonprofit liberals expect, anyway? Mr. Obama is proposing a vast expansion of the entitlement state, and he has to find some way to pay for it. So logically enough, one of his ideas for funding public welfare is to reduce the tax benefit for private charity. His budget proposes to raise the top personal income tax rate to 39.6% in 2011 from 35%, and the 33% rate to 36% while reducing the tax benefit from itemized deductions for the top two brackets to 28% from 35% and 33%, respectively. The White House estimates the deduction reduction will yield $318 billion in revenue over 10 years.
From the Ivy League to the United Jewish Appeal, petitions and manifestos are in the works. The Independent Sector, otherwise eager to praise the Obama budget, worries the tax change "could be a disincentive to some donors." According to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, total itemized contributions from the highest income households would have dropped 4.8% -- or $3.87 billion -- in 2006 if the Obama policy had been in place. That year, Americans gave $186.6 billion to charity, more than 40% from those in the highest tax bracket. A back of the envelope calculation by the Tax Policy Center, a left-of-center think tank, estimates the Obama plan will reduce annual giving by 2%, or some $9 billion.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Why Would Anyone Today Believe In Demons?
Walt Whitman -- "I am infinite, i contain multitudes." In that spirit:
I can be psychological: the subconscious is where some of our darkest longings seek to find expression.
I can be Jungian: there is a collective unconscious, and it has a Shadow side.
I can be clinical: there are many elements of epilepsy, addiction, obsession, as well as simple neural disease or insult, that manifest in strange behaviors that are impossible to neatly classify.
I can be poetic: the Void is hungry, and must constantly be fed.
I can be anthropological: human history is filled with different ways we try to understand both inhumanity and illness as departures from an ideal norm, often personalized and anthropomorphized.
I can be cheerfully liberal: We fear the dark, but there's really nothing there except for our need to learn and understand and grow beyond our fears.
I can be grimly liberal: Greedy selfishness can and should be eliminated, but as long as it is allowed to flourish its ultimate expression is in oppression, discrimination, racism, and genocide. (But a mandatory addition to the public school curriculum or government program can slow or stop greedy selfishness at its root!)
I can be nihilistic: The Dark is ultimately All.
I can be cautiously political: Some people believe that there are others who often are influenced somewhat by factors beyond their understanding or control, and i think we all agree that those people need and deserve our help, with the best tools available in our society today.
Or, i can be a fairly mainstream Christian: I think we dismiss the Bible's talk of demonic influences and possession too easily; i'm not always sure i see what scripture is getting at when demons are described and dealt with, but it certainly has some powerful analogies to lives i see playing out around me, let alone in my own erratic heart.
Hey, i can be a really liberal Christian: Haven't you heard of Walter Wink? "The Powers That Be" helps us see demonic possession as less a matter of an individual issue, but of structures and systems, governmental to congregational, and reminds us that the spiritual realities of change are as important as the politics of transformation.
But some days i'm just a traditional, basically Orthodox Christian: I believe there are demonic forces at work in the world that wish me ill and drag me down, within and without, that affect relationships and communities and events, on which prayer and fasting have a very real impact. Those acts often help in stopping and changing those assaults. Those acts help me stay on the path i try to follow, but am often tempted to stray from. I might not participate in an exorcism, but i would never mock someone for choosing to do so -- i might ask them if they really think they know what they're doing, the same as i would someone "playing" with a Ouija board. I don't want to burn them, wouldn't laugh at someone for doing so, but i would walk away.
Of course, for saying i contain many contradictory aspects of my personality, some might say "He has a demon in him!" I'm with C.S. Lewis, who said we don't help matters by being too interested in the demonic any more than we do by claiming there is not and could be no such thing.
I can be psychological: the subconscious is where some of our darkest longings seek to find expression.
I can be Jungian: there is a collective unconscious, and it has a Shadow side.
I can be clinical: there are many elements of epilepsy, addiction, obsession, as well as simple neural disease or insult, that manifest in strange behaviors that are impossible to neatly classify.
I can be poetic: the Void is hungry, and must constantly be fed.
I can be anthropological: human history is filled with different ways we try to understand both inhumanity and illness as departures from an ideal norm, often personalized and anthropomorphized.
I can be cheerfully liberal: We fear the dark, but there's really nothing there except for our need to learn and understand and grow beyond our fears.
I can be grimly liberal: Greedy selfishness can and should be eliminated, but as long as it is allowed to flourish its ultimate expression is in oppression, discrimination, racism, and genocide. (But a mandatory addition to the public school curriculum or government program can slow or stop greedy selfishness at its root!)
I can be nihilistic: The Dark is ultimately All.
I can be cautiously political: Some people believe that there are others who often are influenced somewhat by factors beyond their understanding or control, and i think we all agree that those people need and deserve our help, with the best tools available in our society today.
Or, i can be a fairly mainstream Christian: I think we dismiss the Bible's talk of demonic influences and possession too easily; i'm not always sure i see what scripture is getting at when demons are described and dealt with, but it certainly has some powerful analogies to lives i see playing out around me, let alone in my own erratic heart.
Hey, i can be a really liberal Christian: Haven't you heard of Walter Wink? "The Powers That Be" helps us see demonic possession as less a matter of an individual issue, but of structures and systems, governmental to congregational, and reminds us that the spiritual realities of change are as important as the politics of transformation.
But some days i'm just a traditional, basically Orthodox Christian: I believe there are demonic forces at work in the world that wish me ill and drag me down, within and without, that affect relationships and communities and events, on which prayer and fasting have a very real impact. Those acts often help in stopping and changing those assaults. Those acts help me stay on the path i try to follow, but am often tempted to stray from. I might not participate in an exorcism, but i would never mock someone for choosing to do so -- i might ask them if they really think they know what they're doing, the same as i would someone "playing" with a Ouija board. I don't want to burn them, wouldn't laugh at someone for doing so, but i would walk away.
Of course, for saying i contain many contradictory aspects of my personality, some might say "He has a demon in him!" I'm with C.S. Lewis, who said we don't help matters by being too interested in the demonic any more than we do by claiming there is not and could be no such thing.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Which Man Is Not Sane?
Or are both? Or neither?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hGvQtumNAY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFNeBRc7W7s
My own personal experience tells me . . . neither. They each know exactly what they do, and why. Their propositions may be questionable, but they are internally consistent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hGvQtumNAY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFNeBRc7W7s
My own personal experience tells me . . . neither. They each know exactly what they do, and why. Their propositions may be questionable, but they are internally consistent.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
A Vampire Sees the Light
http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=1137
http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=1297
The first link gives you Rice's own words; in the second, a more recent analysis of her work with some startling suggestions to which i hope someday to read Rice's reactions.
http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=1297
The first link gives you Rice's own words; in the second, a more recent analysis of her work with some startling suggestions to which i hope someday to read Rice's reactions.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Yikes!
12. I don’t believe there’s all that much good about institutional Christianity. It exists, has to exist and always will exist, but Jesus started a movement, not an institution. (And definitely not a business or a club.) Christianity is a cross-cultural, evangelistic, church planting movement. It’s all about taking the Gospel to individuals and cultures first, then practicing what it means to be Christians in whatever context we live. I can be pretty annoying about this.
13. I’d like everyone- infant baptizers and children baptizers- to own up to the fact that evangelism has badly suffered because we baptize children. Even if you believe it’s right, you still have to contend with the effect all of this has had on evangelism. (In fact, refusing to own up to our lack of evangelistic focus is a primary problem with theological types.) And no, it doesn’t have to be that way, but you figure it out.
14. I believe in an educated ministry, but I don’t see much reason for traditional seminary. It’s expensive and inefficient to a fault. We need mentoring, apprenticing, church-centered programs, etc. The seminary product is about to become the buggy whip of evangelicalism.
15. I believe people who have left the faith have a lot of useful things to say to us, and we need to listen. We also ought to apologize and make a lot of things right. We’ve heard and driven off millions of people, and then we’ve mostly blamed them.
The whole list?
http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/twenty-five-sortof-random-things-i-do-and-dont-believe#more-2793
13. I’d like everyone- infant baptizers and children baptizers- to own up to the fact that evangelism has badly suffered because we baptize children. Even if you believe it’s right, you still have to contend with the effect all of this has had on evangelism. (In fact, refusing to own up to our lack of evangelistic focus is a primary problem with theological types.) And no, it doesn’t have to be that way, but you figure it out.
14. I believe in an educated ministry, but I don’t see much reason for traditional seminary. It’s expensive and inefficient to a fault. We need mentoring, apprenticing, church-centered programs, etc. The seminary product is about to become the buggy whip of evangelicalism.
15. I believe people who have left the faith have a lot of useful things to say to us, and we need to listen. We also ought to apologize and make a lot of things right. We’ve heard and driven off millions of people, and then we’ve mostly blamed them.
The whole list?
http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/twenty-five-sortof-random-things-i-do-and-dont-believe#more-2793
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Parked for later attention
On children and communion --
http://www.gbod.org/worship/default_body.asp?act=reader&item_id=2910
On Natural Law and Marriage --
http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=6408
http://www.gbod.org/worship/default_body.asp?act=reader&item_id=2910
On Natural Law and Marriage --
http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=6408
Friday, January 30, 2009
Another Book Better Than Movie Story
But with quite a difference . . .
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MWFkMGM4MmE4YjQ1NTZmM2FkNjUzYzc5NjdjODVkNDk=
Check the link in the last paragraph for a further counterpoint.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MWFkMGM4MmE4YjQ1NTZmM2FkNjUzYzc5NjdjODVkNDk=
Check the link in the last paragraph for a further counterpoint.
Brad DeLong at TheWeek.com
The current recession may turn into a small depression, and may push global living standards down by five percent for one or two or (we hope not) five years, but that does not erase the gulf between those of us in the globe's middle and upper classes and all human existence prior to the Industrial Revolution. We have reached the frontier of mass material comfort--where we have enough food that we are not painfully hungry, enough clothing that we are not shiveringly cold, enough shelter that we are not distressingly wet, even enough entertainment that we are not bored. We--at least those lucky enough to be in the global middle and upper classes who still cluster around the North Atlantic--have lots and lots of stuff. Our machines and factories have given us the power to get more and more stuff by getting more and more stuff--a self-perpetuating cycle of consumption.
Our goods are not only plentiful but cheap. I am a book addict. Yet even I am fighting hard to spend as great a share of my income on books as Adam Smith did in his day. Back on March 9, 1776 Adam Smith's Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations went on sale for the price of 1.8 pounds sterling at a time when the median family made perhaps 30 pounds a year. That one book (admittedly a big book and an expensive one) cost six percent of the median family's annual income. In the United States today, median family income is $50,000 a year and Smith's Wealth of Nations costs $7.95 at Amazon (in the Bantam Classics edition). The 18th Century British family could buy 17 copies of the Wealth of Nations out of its annual income. The American family in 2009 can buy 6,000 copies: a multiplication factor of 350.
Books are not an exceptional category. Today, buttermilk-fried petrale sole with pickled vegetables and parsley mayonnaise, served at Chez Panisse Café, costs the same share of a day-laborer's earnings as the raw ingredients for two big bowls of oatmeal did in the 18th Century. Then there are all the commodities we consume that were essentially priceless in the past. If in 1786 you had wanted to listen to Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro in your house, you probably had to be the Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria, with a theater in your house--the Palace of Laxenberg. Today, the DVD costs $17.99 at amazon.com. (The multiplication factor for enjoying The Marriage of Figaro in your home is effectively infinite for those not named Josef von Habsburg.)
Our goods are not only plentiful but cheap. I am a book addict. Yet even I am fighting hard to spend as great a share of my income on books as Adam Smith did in his day. Back on March 9, 1776 Adam Smith's Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations went on sale for the price of 1.8 pounds sterling at a time when the median family made perhaps 30 pounds a year. That one book (admittedly a big book and an expensive one) cost six percent of the median family's annual income. In the United States today, median family income is $50,000 a year and Smith's Wealth of Nations costs $7.95 at Amazon (in the Bantam Classics edition). The 18th Century British family could buy 17 copies of the Wealth of Nations out of its annual income. The American family in 2009 can buy 6,000 copies: a multiplication factor of 350.
Books are not an exceptional category. Today, buttermilk-fried petrale sole with pickled vegetables and parsley mayonnaise, served at Chez Panisse Café, costs the same share of a day-laborer's earnings as the raw ingredients for two big bowls of oatmeal did in the 18th Century. Then there are all the commodities we consume that were essentially priceless in the past. If in 1786 you had wanted to listen to Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro in your house, you probably had to be the Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria, with a theater in your house--the Palace of Laxenberg. Today, the DVD costs $17.99 at amazon.com. (The multiplication factor for enjoying The Marriage of Figaro in your home is effectively infinite for those not named Josef von Habsburg.)
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
A Measured, Fair, Partisan View of Jan. 20
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YzVkOTQxYmQzNzRlZjM2MDNkMTZiYTNmYzA0M2EzMzg=
His most interesting takeaway -- Obama won by 7 points, FDR by 18, and the maps for the party state by state in the 1928 elections and then the 1932 results is truly shocking. It's total dominance one way to total dominance the other way.
With that in mind, this speech is even more interesting in it's own right, let alone in comparison:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrfirstinaugural.html
His most interesting takeaway -- Obama won by 7 points, FDR by 18, and the maps for the party state by state in the 1928 elections and then the 1932 results is truly shocking. It's total dominance one way to total dominance the other way.
With that in mind, this speech is even more interesting in it's own right, let alone in comparison:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrfirstinaugural.html
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Not to be entirely forgotten . . .
Sooner or later, the facts of '81 to '85 will come out . . . and almost no one will care, and perhaps at this point shouldn't.
Personally, i'm more bothered by the fact that Dohrn is still at Northwestern School of Law than i am that Obama is in the White House, which i'm getting downright happy about, all things being equal (i.e., given that McCain ran an idiot campaign that did not bode well for his governance).
Personally, i'm more bothered by the fact that Dohrn is still at Northwestern School of Law than i am that Obama is in the White House, which i'm getting downright happy about, all things being equal (i.e., given that McCain ran an idiot campaign that did not bode well for his governance).
Friday, January 23, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Invocation & Benediction
The framing elements of the day's historic events:
Pastor Rick Warren's invocation, in text and video --
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2009/01/rick_warrens_in.html
and Rev. Joseph Lowery's benediction, transcript linked and video embedded --
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2009/01/inaugural_bened.html
Truly, i didn't think Pres. Obama's inaugural address was lackluster at all; just what the occasion called for. And if you haven't had occasion to, make sure to click by http://www.whitehouse.gov
Pastor Rick Warren's invocation, in text and video --
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2009/01/rick_warrens_in.html
and Rev. Joseph Lowery's benediction, transcript linked and video embedded --
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2009/01/inaugural_bened.html
Truly, i didn't think Pres. Obama's inaugural address was lackluster at all; just what the occasion called for. And if you haven't had occasion to, make sure to click by http://www.whitehouse.gov
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Rich Corinthian Leather
So, in honor of Ricardo Montalban --
http://vodpod.com/watch/279944-baby-its-cold-outside
and it was from watching this very movie, as an exchange student in Greeley, Colorado in 1949 that Sayyid Qutb wrote the book which was the basis for what became . . . al-Qaeda.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/presence-feb06.html
See also http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120190688451636621.html for the context of what so disturbed Qutb.
You can't make this stuff up.
http://vodpod.com/watch/279944-baby-its-cold-outside
and it was from watching this very movie, as an exchange student in Greeley, Colorado in 1949 that Sayyid Qutb wrote the book which was the basis for what became . . . al-Qaeda.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/presence-feb06.html
See also http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120190688451636621.html for the context of what so disturbed Qutb.
You can't make this stuff up.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Thank you, Lt. Raz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI1q3etFX2k
He's explaining to us the implications of an operational map captured from a Hamas command post. Oddly, this hasn't attracted much attention in general media, but you can watch it for yourself here.
He's explaining to us the implications of an operational map captured from a Hamas command post. Oddly, this hasn't attracted much attention in general media, but you can watch it for yourself here.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
May He Rest In Peace
“The sovereign God is not obligated to save any, but He desires to save all, and so denies the necessary grace to none, which may be rejected by some, perhaps by many.”
-Fr. Richard John Neuhaus
-Fr. Richard John Neuhaus
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Ow ow ow ow ow -- ow.
If i ever lose my head enough to call myself a theologian, and then write a book, i pray that Will Willimon doesn't get asked to review it.
This is like watching a South Carolina cook de-bone some slow cooked barbecue --
http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=6046
This is like watching a South Carolina cook de-bone some slow cooked barbecue --
http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=6046
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Munson Springs, Nicely Limned
Thank you, Paul and Jarrod --
http://books.google.com/books?id=sG9uc3HyldQC&pg=PA159
It is kind of funny how the Munson Springs paleo paper Brad & i did is mentioned, but skated around . . . for multiple reasons, i'm sure. I still think we had an extended occupation at the base of that site, but we'll likely never know for sure.
http://books.google.com/books?id=sG9uc3HyldQC&pg=PA159
It is kind of funny how the Munson Springs paleo paper Brad & i did is mentioned, but skated around . . . for multiple reasons, i'm sure. I still think we had an extended occupation at the base of that site, but we'll likely never know for sure.
Younger Dryas Incident
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/02/science/02impact.html
What a tragic story, if i'm reading the interpretation of the end of Clovis correctly.
What a tragic story, if i'm reading the interpretation of the end of Clovis correctly.
This Will Discomfit Many
http://sec.online.wsj.com/article/SB123025595706634689.html -- but delights me; note also the "reads the Bible through each year" aside, not clear if it counted for the total (it oughta count for 66, or at least two).
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