Comptroller General David Walker estimates that Washington has promised $53 trillion in Social Security and Medicare benefits without funding them. In real dollars, that means every American -- this means you -- owns a $175,000 share of the federal debt. It's as if you have a second mortgage -- for a home you don't own.
These days, there has been much finger-pointing at a system that allowed lenders to issue mortgages that violated the basic tenets of fiscal responsibility. How is it, people now ask, that banks could issue so many loans to buyers for homes they could not afford?
How indeed? Washington continues to authorize retirement and medical benefits without putting aside the money to pay for them. Editorials and think tanks sound the alert. Yet you hear little public complaint about the situation. Even in a presidential election year, voters are not demanding that White House hopefuls promise to balance the books.
If the sky falls, will Americans then ask why they were not warned? Every year of inaction adds another $2 trillion to $3 trillion to the tab, noted Alison Acosta Fraser of the right-leaning Heritage Foundation.
Alice Rivlin of the left-leaning Brookings Institution is the fourth member of the Concord Coalition's "Fiscal Wake-Up Tour." Asked what presidential hopefuls Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain propose to do about the pending crisis, Rivlin answered that essentially "they're ignoring it almost completely."
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DebraJSaunders/2008/03/11/everymans_mortgage_crisis
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
A Long Read, But Worth the Time
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/guitar-heros.htm
If you can read this and still say our troops in Iraq are wasting their time and their lives while indiscriminately killing Iraqi civilians, i don't have anything else to say -- pax vobiscum.
These are warriors in the most honorable sense of the word, and i believe they're doing part of what it takes to build peace. Not all, not even most, but a necessary part.
If you can read this and still say our troops in Iraq are wasting their time and their lives while indiscriminately killing Iraqi civilians, i don't have anything else to say -- pax vobiscum.
These are warriors in the most honorable sense of the word, and i believe they're doing part of what it takes to build peace. Not all, not even most, but a necessary part.
Hmmmmm
http://www.dailytech.com/Researcher+Basic+Greenhouse+Equations+Totally+Wrong/article10973.htm
What? It's just a link, c'mon . . . hey, i said it's just a link!
What? It's just a link, c'mon . . . hey, i said it's just a link!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
A Third Larger Than the Giza Pyramid
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/travel/09hours.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin
Cholula's pyramid is awkwardly featured in this travelogue that focuses on food . . . not that there's anything wrong with that!
Cholula's pyramid is awkwardly featured in this travelogue that focuses on food . . . not that there's anything wrong with that!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
El Crematorio
A place that's much in my prayers these days . . . "The Dump" on the edge of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, known in Spanish as "El Crematorio." The Miller family is getting ready to go work with the AFE school on the edge of "The Dump," and you can see that video with Jeony's narration at http://knapsack.blogspot.com.
Jeony isn't a pastor, really, but his young daughter talked him into launching this ministry just a few years ago, in 2002, when they saw all the children working - and living - right there at the dump, when they were taking their own household trash to drop it off. Jeony notes towards the end of the other clip that "for $62,000 i can run this school for a year, serving over 100 enrolled kids, a nursery for dozens of younger ones and sports programs for all, plus the water ministry up on the garbage heap."
This video clip is a meditation in Spanish about prayer and poverty (thanks, Gay!) over images that give you a broad sense of what's going on there.
Jeony isn't a pastor, really, but his young daughter talked him into launching this ministry just a few years ago, in 2002, when they saw all the children working - and living - right there at the dump, when they were taking their own household trash to drop it off. Jeony notes towards the end of the other clip that "for $62,000 i can run this school for a year, serving over 100 enrolled kids, a nursery for dozens of younger ones and sports programs for all, plus the water ministry up on the garbage heap."
This video clip is a meditation in Spanish about prayer and poverty (thanks, Gay!) over images that give you a broad sense of what's going on there.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Homeowner equity is lowest since 1945 - Biz Week
[details at http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/business_breaking/20080306_Americans_home_equity_lowest_since_1945.html]
Americans' percentage of equity in their homes fell below 50% for the first time on record since 1945, the Federal Reserve said. Homeowners' portion of equity slipped to downwardly revised 49.6% in the second quarter of 2007, the central bank reported in its quarterly U.S. Flow of Funds Accounts, and declined further to 47.9% in the fourth quarter -- the third straight quarter it was under 50%. That marks the first time homeowners' debt on their houses exceeds their equity since the Fed started tracking the data in 1945. The total value of equity also fell for the third straight quarter to $9.65 trillion from a downwardly revised $9.93 trillion in the third quarter. Home equity, which is equal to the percentage of a home's market value minus mortgage-related debt, has steadily decreased even as home prices jumped earlier this decade due to a surge in cash-out refinances, home equity loans and lines of credit and an increase in 100% or more home financing. Economists expect this figure to drop even further as declining home prices eat into the value of most Americans' single largest asset. Moody's Economy.com estimates that 8.8 mln homeowners, or about 10.3% of homes, will have zero or negative equity by the end of the month. Even more disturbing, about 13.8 mln households, or 15.9%, will be "upside down" if prices fall 20% from their peak... Experts expect foreclosures to rise as more homeowners struggle with adjusting rates on their mortgages, making their monthly payments unaffordable. Problems in the credit markets and eroding home values are making it harder to refinance out of unmanageable loans. The threat of so-called "mortgage walkers," or homeowners who can afford their payments but decide not to pay, also increases as home values depreciate and equity diminishes. Banks and credit-rating agencies already are seeing early evidence of this.
Americans' percentage of equity in their homes fell below 50% for the first time on record since 1945, the Federal Reserve said. Homeowners' portion of equity slipped to downwardly revised 49.6% in the second quarter of 2007, the central bank reported in its quarterly U.S. Flow of Funds Accounts, and declined further to 47.9% in the fourth quarter -- the third straight quarter it was under 50%. That marks the first time homeowners' debt on their houses exceeds their equity since the Fed started tracking the data in 1945. The total value of equity also fell for the third straight quarter to $9.65 trillion from a downwardly revised $9.93 trillion in the third quarter. Home equity, which is equal to the percentage of a home's market value minus mortgage-related debt, has steadily decreased even as home prices jumped earlier this decade due to a surge in cash-out refinances, home equity loans and lines of credit and an increase in 100% or more home financing. Economists expect this figure to drop even further as declining home prices eat into the value of most Americans' single largest asset. Moody's Economy.com estimates that 8.8 mln homeowners, or about 10.3% of homes, will have zero or negative equity by the end of the month. Even more disturbing, about 13.8 mln households, or 15.9%, will be "upside down" if prices fall 20% from their peak... Experts expect foreclosures to rise as more homeowners struggle with adjusting rates on their mortgages, making their monthly payments unaffordable. Problems in the credit markets and eroding home values are making it harder to refinance out of unmanageable loans. The threat of so-called "mortgage walkers," or homeowners who can afford their payments but decide not to pay, also increases as home values depreciate and equity diminishes. Banks and credit-rating agencies already are seeing early evidence of this.
How did Hillary do it?
The Plain Dealer tells you --
http://www.cleveland.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/_rural_ohio_helped_clinton.html
http://www.cleveland.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/_rural_ohio_helped_clinton.html
Our county, divided
[from your Newark Advocate, Thurs., March 6]
West vs. rest voting trend continues
By KENT MALLETT
Advocate Reporter
NEWARK -- The political divide between the west and the rest of Licking County continued in Tuesday's primary election.
The voting patterns on countywide tax issues differ dramatically in central Licking County versus the western edge. The change seems to occur at the line dividing Granville and St. Albans townships, just west of Raccoon International Golf Course on Ohio 37.
The difference was dramatic again Tuesday in the vote on the county's bond issue to pay for new senior citizen centers. The bond issue failed 52.2 percent to 47.8 percent, thanks to strong opposition in the west.
BY THE NUMBERS
42-8
Record in favor of the bond issue at the 50 central Licking County voting precincts located in Newark, Heath, Granville, Hanover, Granville Township and Hanover Township.
1-37
Record in favor of the bond issue at the 38 western Licking County precincts located in Pataskala, Reynoldsburg, Johnstown, Alexandria, and the townships of Etna, Harrison, Monroe, St. Albans, Jersey and Liberty.
50.7
Percentage of the 103,622 registered voters who turned out to vote in the election.
55
Percentage of Licking County voters who took a Democratic Party ballot out of the 51,392 who asked for a partisan ballot.
8-0
Barack Obama's win-loss record in the eight precincts in Granville village and Granville Township.
110-7
Hillary Clinton's record in the county's remaining 117 precincts.
36, 2
Vote totals in St. Louisville for Sheriff Randy Thorp and former sheriff Gerry Billy, respectively.
61
Thorp's lowest percentage of the vote in any of the county's 125 precincts.
West vs. rest voting trend continues
By KENT MALLETT
Advocate Reporter
NEWARK -- The political divide between the west and the rest of Licking County continued in Tuesday's primary election.
The voting patterns on countywide tax issues differ dramatically in central Licking County versus the western edge. The change seems to occur at the line dividing Granville and St. Albans townships, just west of Raccoon International Golf Course on Ohio 37.
The difference was dramatic again Tuesday in the vote on the county's bond issue to pay for new senior citizen centers. The bond issue failed 52.2 percent to 47.8 percent, thanks to strong opposition in the west.
BY THE NUMBERS
42-8
Record in favor of the bond issue at the 50 central Licking County voting precincts located in Newark, Heath, Granville, Hanover, Granville Township and Hanover Township.
1-37
Record in favor of the bond issue at the 38 western Licking County precincts located in Pataskala, Reynoldsburg, Johnstown, Alexandria, and the townships of Etna, Harrison, Monroe, St. Albans, Jersey and Liberty.
50.7
Percentage of the 103,622 registered voters who turned out to vote in the election.
55
Percentage of Licking County voters who took a Democratic Party ballot out of the 51,392 who asked for a partisan ballot.
8-0
Barack Obama's win-loss record in the eight precincts in Granville village and Granville Township.
110-7
Hillary Clinton's record in the county's remaining 117 precincts.
36, 2
Vote totals in St. Louisville for Sheriff Randy Thorp and former sheriff Gerry Billy, respectively.
61
Thorp's lowest percentage of the vote in any of the county's 125 precincts.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
National Trends in Homelessness Funding
This is one small part of a great series, published in Philadelphia . . . and if you check out some of the other ten or twelve stories in this three day series, it will be worth your while, but here's the money quote (literally) in the most germane piece of the bunch:
* * *
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_left_story/20080225_The_new_mandate__First__find_them_a_home.html
In Philadelphia, this new philosophy has challenged how things are done and created tension between social-service agencies as well as more intense competition for federal funding.
The city, which spends $98 million in federal, state and city funds on homelessness, works with more than two dozen social-service agencies that promote what was once the standard in care: Bring the homeless into shelters, treat them, train them, and eventually move them into a permanent and affordable home.
But five years ago, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development began placing a premium on programs that offer housing to the most chronically homeless: those living on the streets or rotating in and out of shelters for years.
Those people represent from 10 percent to 20 percent of the nation's overall homeless population, but consume 50 percent of the spending on homelessness, said Philip Mangano, executive director of the Interagency Council on Homelessness, the agency established by Congress to oversee federal initiatives for ending homelessness.
"They're the most visible, most vulnerable, most disabled, most likely to die, and most expensive," Mangano said.
In 2006, Philadelphia lost 40 percent of its HUD funding for homeless programs because its bid - made collectively for all social-service agencies - sought too much for services and not enough for permanent housing for the chronically homeless.
In December 2007, the city regained its funding after every homeless agency cut its budget for services by 25 percent. Reflecting the new national focus, the project that got the most federal funding was a planned facility for permanently housing 79 homeless inebriates or addicts living on the streets of Center City.
* * *
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_left_story/20080225_The_new_mandate__First__find_them_a_home.html
In Philadelphia, this new philosophy has challenged how things are done and created tension between social-service agencies as well as more intense competition for federal funding.
The city, which spends $98 million in federal, state and city funds on homelessness, works with more than two dozen social-service agencies that promote what was once the standard in care: Bring the homeless into shelters, treat them, train them, and eventually move them into a permanent and affordable home.
But five years ago, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development began placing a premium on programs that offer housing to the most chronically homeless: those living on the streets or rotating in and out of shelters for years.
Those people represent from 10 percent to 20 percent of the nation's overall homeless population, but consume 50 percent of the spending on homelessness, said Philip Mangano, executive director of the Interagency Council on Homelessness, the agency established by Congress to oversee federal initiatives for ending homelessness.
"They're the most visible, most vulnerable, most disabled, most likely to die, and most expensive," Mangano said.
In 2006, Philadelphia lost 40 percent of its HUD funding for homeless programs because its bid - made collectively for all social-service agencies - sought too much for services and not enough for permanent housing for the chronically homeless.
In December 2007, the city regained its funding after every homeless agency cut its budget for services by 25 percent. Reflecting the new national focus, the project that got the most federal funding was a planned facility for permanently housing 79 homeless inebriates or addicts living on the streets of Center City.
What this means i'm not quite sure
As no one wants to watch the evening news for 30 minutes who isn't strapped to a walker (or so the media mavens tell us), the networks overcompensate by . . .
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/us/politics/05watch.html
I compare this in my head to how churches are trying to trend-surf their way to relevance, and think -- whatever network broadcast execs are doing, i want to do something different.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/us/politics/05watch.html
I compare this in my head to how churches are trying to trend-surf their way to relevance, and think -- whatever network broadcast execs are doing, i want to do something different.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
John Wimber on the Church
John Wimber -- http://www.vineyardusa.org/publications/equippingsaints.aspx -- wrote this arguing that everyone seems to be able to see this except those of us in the church:
"Folks, the world knows what this is supposed to look like. Years ago in New York City, I got into a taxi cab with an Iranian taxi driver, who could hardly speak English. I tried to explain to him where I wanted to go, and as he was pulling his car out of the parking place, he almost got hit by a van that on its side had a sign reading The Pentecostal Church. He got real upset and said, "That guy’s drunk." I said, "No, he’s a Pentecostal. Drunk in the spirit, maybe, but not with wine." He asked, "Do you know about church?" I said, "Well, I know a little bit about it; what do you know?" It was a long trip from one end of Manhattan to the other, and all the way down he told me one horror story after another that he’d heard about the church. He knew about the pastor that ran off with the choir master's wife, the couple that had burned the church down and collected the insurance—every horrible thing you could imagine. We finally get to where we were going, I paid him, and as we’re standing there on the landing I gave him an extra-large tip. He got a suspicious look in his eyes—he’d been around, you know. I said, "Answer me this one question." Now keep in mind, I’m planning on witnessing to him. "If there was a God and he had a church, what would it be like?" He sat there for awhile making up his mind to play or not. Finally he sighed and said, "Well, if there was a God and he had a church—they would care for the poor, heal the sick, and they wouldn’t charge you money to teach you the Book." I turned around and it was like an explosion in my chest. "Oh, God." I just cried, I couldn’t help it. I thought, "Oh Lord, they know. The world knows what it’s supposed to be like. The only ones that don’t know are the Church."
When you joined the kingdom, you expected to be used of God. I’ve talked to thousands of people, and almost everybody has said, "When I signed up, I knew that caring for the poor was part of it—I just kind of got weaned off of it, because no one else was doing it." Folks, I’m not saying, "Do some-thing heroic." I’m not saying, "Take on some high standard, sell everything you have and go." Now, if Jesus tells you that, that’s different. But I’m not saying that. I’m just saying, participate. Give some portion of what you have—time, energy, money, on a regular basis—to this purpose, to redeeming people, to caring for people. Share your heart and life with somebody that’s not easy to sit in the same car with. Are you hearing me? That’s where you’ll really see the kingdom of God."
* * *
He's right, y'know.
"Folks, the world knows what this is supposed to look like. Years ago in New York City, I got into a taxi cab with an Iranian taxi driver, who could hardly speak English. I tried to explain to him where I wanted to go, and as he was pulling his car out of the parking place, he almost got hit by a van that on its side had a sign reading The Pentecostal Church. He got real upset and said, "That guy’s drunk." I said, "No, he’s a Pentecostal. Drunk in the spirit, maybe, but not with wine." He asked, "Do you know about church?" I said, "Well, I know a little bit about it; what do you know?" It was a long trip from one end of Manhattan to the other, and all the way down he told me one horror story after another that he’d heard about the church. He knew about the pastor that ran off with the choir master's wife, the couple that had burned the church down and collected the insurance—every horrible thing you could imagine. We finally get to where we were going, I paid him, and as we’re standing there on the landing I gave him an extra-large tip. He got a suspicious look in his eyes—he’d been around, you know. I said, "Answer me this one question." Now keep in mind, I’m planning on witnessing to him. "If there was a God and he had a church, what would it be like?" He sat there for awhile making up his mind to play or not. Finally he sighed and said, "Well, if there was a God and he had a church—they would care for the poor, heal the sick, and they wouldn’t charge you money to teach you the Book." I turned around and it was like an explosion in my chest. "Oh, God." I just cried, I couldn’t help it. I thought, "Oh Lord, they know. The world knows what it’s supposed to be like. The only ones that don’t know are the Church."
When you joined the kingdom, you expected to be used of God. I’ve talked to thousands of people, and almost everybody has said, "When I signed up, I knew that caring for the poor was part of it—I just kind of got weaned off of it, because no one else was doing it." Folks, I’m not saying, "Do some-thing heroic." I’m not saying, "Take on some high standard, sell everything you have and go." Now, if Jesus tells you that, that’s different. But I’m not saying that. I’m just saying, participate. Give some portion of what you have—time, energy, money, on a regular basis—to this purpose, to redeeming people, to caring for people. Share your heart and life with somebody that’s not easy to sit in the same car with. Are you hearing me? That’s where you’ll really see the kingdom of God."
* * *
He's right, y'know.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Times of London poem of the week
The Country Clergy
I see them working in old rectories
By the sun's light, by candle-light,
Venerable men, their black cloth
A little dusty, a little green
With holy mildew. And yet their skulls,
Ripening over so many prayers,
Toppled into the same grave
With oafs and yokels. They left no books,
Memorial to their lonely thought
In grey parishes: rather they wrote
On men's hearts and in the minds
Of young children sublime words
Too soon forgotten. God in his time
Or out of time will correct this.
R. S. THOMAS (1958)
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article3440356.ece
I see them working in old rectories
By the sun's light, by candle-light,
Venerable men, their black cloth
A little dusty, a little green
With holy mildew. And yet their skulls,
Ripening over so many prayers,
Toppled into the same grave
With oafs and yokels. They left no books,
Memorial to their lonely thought
In grey parishes: rather they wrote
On men's hearts and in the minds
Of young children sublime words
Too soon forgotten. God in his time
Or out of time will correct this.
R. S. THOMAS (1958)
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article3440356.ece
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