3820

Party Girl

Terrapin Station had this list of questions and I hadn't done one for awhile. It's all about parties.

1) Would you rather be the host or the guest? I like both. "Party" isn't exactly what I do--maybe more of a "gathering." If I go to someone else's party, I get to meet new people. Last Saturday we went to a Kentucky Derby party--we all wore hats and dressed up, watched the race and enjoyed a fabulous meal with interesting people. I like to have "Whistle stop" parties--if you talk about weight, age, or health, I'll blow the whistle and stop you.

2) When you are hosting, do you clean everything up the minute the guests go home? Usually. If it is really late, it can wait, but all the dishes are rinsed and in the kitchen. Right after the meal (if it's a dinner), I load the dishwasher and keep everyone out of the kitchen, but I can see and hear what's going on. The dining room is a bit tight for 6 or 8, so they really can't move, which helps my plan.

3) If you had the wherewithal, and I guess I mean more than money, to throw a great theme party, what would the theme be? Doing something on a movie theme is fun. We went to one for my son-in-law's birthday--although I think for our age group we'd have to do an era, or specific stars. We rarely see movies anymore unless they are on TNT or AMC. The 70s were the pits for movies. 90s and 50s pretty good. 30s and 40s the best. If money were no object, I'd rent a spot and we'd have some sort of opening for an art show.

4) What's the worst time you ever had at a party? This one's easy. The first party I attended as a married woman was my husband's office Christmas party. It was a small company and I knew most of the people. The host was so inebriated by the time we got there (and we're always on time) that he had wet his pants. He was so drunk, it didn't bother him either and he didn't change his clothes. It made the guests really uncomfortable. I think we left early.

5) And to end on a brighter note, what was the best? I always tell people that my daughter's wedding was the best party. She was old enough (and independent enough) to do most of the planning herself, so I just had to show up, look pretty and enjoy myself. I got to see all my friends, dance, and eat good food. She was probably a frazzled wreck, but, hey, it's all about the mother-of-the-bride, right?

3819

Librarian publishes her third book

Nancy Pearl is the 62 year old librarian who developed the program whereby a whole city or town reads the same book. She's now published "Book Crush: for kids & teens." USAToday story

Mine is hardly an unbiased opinion, but I don't think librarians are the best guides on how or why children read--or adults either for that matter. I've seen some fabulous book blogs, and the best are simply by people who love reading and want to share their joy. However, not everyone loves to read or wants to read. Nothing emotional, spiritual, or intellectual happens when they read like when they play guitar, or hit a golf ball, or feel the tug of a fish on the line, or smell the leather of a saddle against the sweat of a horse. Zero, nada, zip.

I read to my children when they were young (it's a great cuddle time), it was a positive experience for the three of us, and both could read by the age of four. We made our own books too, using the cards they received for holidays. We had spelling contests, illustrated stories, and played word games. They always got books for birthdays and Christmas from my parents. One loved school; one hated it except for recess. They had excellent teachers, in a great school system, and parents who had a good education and who read to them. One does read fiction selectively by certain authors, only in hard cover, and only what she purchases; the other never reads. Neither have a library card.

I also took them to story hour at the local public library within walking distance of our home. They both disliked this experience, but for different reasons. My daughter wanted to stay right with me in the adult section, clinging to my leg; my son wanted to go play in the park next to the library. Neither thought sitting with strangers on the floor of the library was a fun way to hear a story.

I just mention this so nobody gets too puffed up about her ability to inspire children to read. And don't have too many regrets if you didn't have the time, inclination or interest and you think you've failed your children. If they are readers, they will find a way. There are many studies on learning types, environment, accessibility, illustrations, word difficulty and choices. And the "research" changes from era to era. When I was a little girl, teachers and librarians discouraged books in series, now it is encouraged. Comic books in a library? They would have been horrified, but not today.

Yes, by all means expose children to good literature with good illustrations; just don't be alarmed if they go another direction.

3818

Helicopter parents

That's a term for parents who hover. I thought I was the world's most hovering Mom, but I was a novice. Or maybe some of today's parents just seem that way because others are so neglectful.

The Columbus Dispatch had a photo of a boy, about 8 or 9, flying a kite in a park, talking to his mom on the cell phone with one hand, managing the string with the other. She calls every day at the same time, the article noted.

He was with his father.

Last night we went out to eat with a young, about-to-be-divorced mom and her two young sons. Both the father and grandfather called to talk to the boys.

3817

Tighty whities

Are tight, shorter length jeans back in style for all guys, or just gays? I saw a photo on the fashion page in WSJ of skinny leg, tight jeans, hitting snug in the crotch as well as the ankle just above the shoe. This wasn't the photo (from Sartorialist) but the same idea--tight and white. Quickly--hit the resale shops before all the 80s jeans are gone.

3816

A Mother's Day post

Joan has a great Mother's Day post today--stop by and enjoy it. I'm not a "goal setter," (I'm a problem solver), but I liked it. Not everyone wins in the gene pool, but Joan and her sibs (most are also bloggers) and my sibs and I were very fortunate. Joan's mom is Methodist minister (as was her father) and I've also visited her blog, and she's writing about her mom!

My mother wasn't a pastor, but she certainly did her share of teaching Sunday School, Bible school, and women's Bible study around her dining room table while volunteering for about 35 years at the local nursing home after looking out for her own mother and mother-in-law. My mom was a talented writer--even wrote some short stories--but I can't imagine her ever taking up blogging. She even destroyed my father's letters from WWII after we children found them in the attic. I have every letter she ever wrote to me--just filled with Illinois crop and weather reports and updates on my grandparents' health. Just fascinating stuff, but I enjoy seeing her handwriting.

Yes, Joan and I are blessed.

3815

Sometimes I have trouble with English, too

Perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised if newspapers are shrinking or folding and people are communicating in text messages with no capital letters, numbers for words, and no punctuation. English is a world-wide language, can be difficult, and each culture puts its own slant on it. I use English all the time, and sometimes I struggle. (I have a problem overusing adverbs and parenthetical statements.) Yesterday I was reading Terry Teachout's theater column in the Wall Street Journal (you can see part of it here on his blog). I don't do theater, although I did see a matinee in New York about 50 years ago, but I like to keep up. Please don't misunderstand; he's a superb writer, but I'm out of practice. It's like reading some of the old research articles from the 20s or 30s in JSTOR--it's good exercise, but tiring. Maybe it's my age, or the age we live in age in which we live. I was exhausted by my own pauses: read, reread and ponder the meaning. I knew the idioms and phrases weren't critical to the sense of the essay, that he was just enjoying being playful, but still. . . I love words, language and meaning, and it shouldn't be so difficult. For instance:

"not excluding," does that mean "including?"

"repays careful watching," does that mean you get back the time if you pay attention?

"a couple of much-admired revivals not with standing," does that mean yes, the play has had revivals that were good?

"it goes without saying," I know that means "I'm going to say something you'll agree with, but I'm saying it anyway," but . . . it's still confusing to say you're not going to say it and then you do.

"an actor who sings not a singer who acts," would mean one is better at cross over than the other?

"can't be anything other than gorgeous," means very pretty, but why do so many of our idioms use the negative to be positive? Do Greeks or Cambodians do this? Probably, if they speak English.

"would that this tale were something other than an ordinary celebrity vehicle," What do you call that construction of, "would that. . .were. . .other than"? Future pluperfect past something?

"deliver the goods with postage to spare," must mean it's beyond successful, but I'm not familiar with the phrase. Is it theater English? New Yorker English? An idiom from his school days? Pony Express?

"so transparent as to be but invisible" I'm sure this construction has a name (so . . .as to be . . .), but it's been a long time since English class.

"a pair of golf-playing straw businessmen in bespoke suits" Yes, I did have to look up "bespoke" which is past tense of "bespeak" which is a British tailoring term meaning you choose the material. And I know a straw man is something made up to knock down. But strung together (a play about African Americans), I'm a bit confused.

Friday Family Photo

Here it is. The new bed, with the new bedspread, and the new wall color. Not quite finished yet. The bathrooms still have some work now that the carpenters are finished (try to get that done before you paint). I'm hoping this will be the last bed. We've had a problem with that.

After: new color is light gold with some green undertones, flipping the wall and trim colors from the guest room, looks good with the wood tones. Coverlet is cream, gold, green and blue. Bed is from Amish Vault in Bucyrus, OH.
Before: with dark blue faux glaze that was awful to try to cover. Every room in the house was either faux glazed or wallpapered, but this one seemed to have an impenetrable glaze over the glaze--and was actually lighter than most of the other rooms, so we did it last.
Still a bit of work to do
Have you seen that ad on TV where the guy starts flipping the wall switch asking his wife in the next room what it is for? She has no idea. Meanwhile, down the street a garage door is going up and down on a car hood, "Life comes at you fast," is the voice over as it crashes onto a bewildered woman inside the car. We'd forgotten that switch that shows above the dresser top because it was faux painted too. No idea what it goes to, but if a garage door starts moving. . .

3813

Casual Friday Circus

On Friday I get "the best dressed" award. There's just no competition. Today I had on navy, non-faded jeans with a touch of appliqued lace and felt flowers on the left leg and a pressed white shirt, and black heels. My hair was combed; and I was wearing a touch of make-up--powder and rouge, but no lipstick. A watch, glasses and wedding rings completed the ensemble. Compared with my fellow coffee drinkers, I could have walked the red carpet at the Oscars. The competition wore pajamas, shower thongs, rumpled khaki knee-length shorts, skimpy t-shirts over colored bras, horizontal striped short shorts with full side pockets, hooded sweat shirts and rock group tour shirts.

The young lady in the sketch has a lovely face--I can tell now that she doesn't wear the Goth make-up she used to wear or color her hair odd hues. Her puffy muffin top spilled over her low-slung gray sweat pants, and her bra straps hung over shoulders, barely up to the job asked of them. The t-shirt reminded me of what men wore 60 years ago who worked summer construction. But she was well dressed compared to her friend wearing the flannel, print pj bottoms. These young ladies, who I think are students at the local high school, make the case for school uniforms.

Still, the teen years are for experimenting and rebelling. When I was a teen I wore faded boy-cut Levis and most of my friends didn't. I'm sure my parents just sighed and rolled their eyes. I did wonder about some of the adults I saw today. Some boomer moms come in and their kids are better dressed and coiffured than they are. Is that rebellion in reverse?

And now, from the folks who poisoned our pets

From Medscape.com:

"May 8, 2007 — Healthcare professionals and others who compound medications using glycerin are being reminded of the importance of testing for diethylene glycol (DEG) contamination before use, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned yesterday. DEG, a solvent, is a known poison used in antifreeze.

Although the US supply of glycerin is not known to contain DEG, contaminated glycerin is known to have caused deaths in other countries over the past several years, according to an alert sent yesterday from MedWatch, the FDA's safety information and adverse-event reporting program."

And we import glycerin from China. Didn't see a word about that in the Medscape article. Other medical sites aren't being so cautious, citing "lack of transparency" of Chinese officials. The first quiet, back page warnings about glycerin came out about 6 weeks ago; then NYT had an article a few days ago; then Medscape and some medical sites finally alerted their readers--they probably saw the NYT article. Glycerin is used in many products from toothpaste to cough medicine. Tell me again why the Federal Government should be in charge of all aspects of our health care.

Sopranos, Sex and the City and Albrecht

About a year ago, Chris Albrecht and Jeffry Bewkes, riding high with the success of smarmy, sexy HBO series, were being honored by Phoenix House for their contributions for substance abuse programs.

"There are few corporate leaders or companies as deserving of our Public Service Award as Chris Albrecht and HBO,” said Mitchell S. Rosenthal, M.D., president of Phoenix House. "They truly serve the nation, keeping troubling social issues like drug abuse, homelessness and poverty in the public eye."

"We are grateful to Chris and the many friends and associates of HBO who came out to honor him and support the work of Phoenix House. Thanks to them, we will be able to reach out to help more young people in need." Story in 2006

Now Chris Albrecht has resigned, claiming his physical abuse of a girl friend was caused by his alcoholic relapse. According to today's WSJ, Bewkes helped Albrecht smooth over a 1991 abuse of a female employee with a $400,000 settlement.

If it weren't for the 1991 incident, it could be a he said, she said case. But seems to be the chickens coming home to roost if you ask me, and you know what that smells like.

Thursday Thirteen--My Book House

The carpenters and painters have left, and we've got most of the dust corraled (always, always turn off your furnace fan if you are remodeling or painting, or you spread the dust throughout the house). This morning I was putting back the bookshelves and knick-knacks, and dusted off "My Book House," which just happens to have 13 volumes. Oh, you only have 12 volumes? Then you're missing "In your hands, a practical guide for parents," which links special projects and crafts and advice for using the 12 volume set.

My mother got a set of My Book House as a bonus buy when she bought a set of Book of Knowledge encyclopedias probably in the early 1940s. At least, I don't remember a time we didn't have both sets. Ours was probably the 1937 edition. Sometime in the mid-1970s, I walked into a little antique store in Lakeside, OH, and saw a set for $25, a 1953 printing. It was a lot of money for something my children had probably already outgrown, but one of my siblings (with the first grandchild) had been given the family set. Our very most favorite story to cuddle on the couch with was, 'Wee wee mannie and the big big coo," because we loved to hear Mom do the accent.

1. In the nursery
2. Story time
3. Up one pair of stairs
4. Through the gates
5. Over the hills
6. Through fairy halls
7. The magic garden
8. Flying sails
9. The treasure chest
10. From the tower window
11. In shining armor
12. Halls of fame
13. [unnumbered] In your hands; a practical guide for parents, rev. ed., 8th printing, 1951.

The covers/binding of my set are like the above photo [taken from the internet, but that is from the 60s], and the set I grew up with was dark blue. The illustrations seem unchanged. Fabulous. A child can look for hours at one painting or drawing. The early sets from the 20s had only 6 volumes. Google Olive Beaupre Miller, the editor, for her very interesting story. Her papers are at Smith College. She lived in Illinois and some years back I read a very nice biography of her in an Illinois magazine, but I can't seem to lay my hands on it.

3809

New issue of City Journal

The Spring 2007 issue is up and ready--you won't be disappointed.

Andrew Klavan’s witty “The Big White Lie,” was up for a preview earlier--but others are brand-new. Kay Hymowitz’s “The Incredible Shrinking Father,” --artificial insemination and its troubling effects on our culture and jurisprudence; Sol Stern, in “Save the Catholic Schools!,” outlines the dangers they face, adding a story about a remarkable one in Harlem; Stefan Kanfer’s account of journalist, humorist, businessman, and impresario Elbert Hubbard, and Theodore Dalrymple’s study of novelist Arthur Koestler; Adam Thierer’s “The Media Cornucopia,” which describes the Left’s various arguments for shutting down our burgeoning 21st-century TV, radio, and Internet universe; Peter Huber’s “Germs and the City,” which I've cited here before based on his WSJ article.

3808

Get a Chihuahua?

A friend stopped to chat at Panera's and she told me she hadn't been to Bible study recently because she was taking advantage of the good weather to work in her yard (on Saturdays). Part of her yard problem was her dogs. Three Goldens. Big. Dogs. Eat. Poop. "But I feel so safe," she said. Well, Bottom Line Newsletter (Winter 2007) says one of the myths about safety is having a big dog. Most big dogs are not barkers. What is needed are small dogs that make a lot of noise, like Chihuahuas.

I've never known any dog that didn't bark when I walked up to a door. My son's huge (Mom, she's just a puppy) Lab barks. A lot.

3807

The case for vegetarianism

Not that I would, but medically, it makes sense. It's an impressive argument.

Some extremely common conditions in the Western world are relatively uncommon in purely or predominantly vegetarian and fruit-eating societies. These include 1) severe atherosclerosis and its devastating consequences (heart attacks, brain attacks, etc.); 2) systemic hypertension: in societies that eat minuscule amounts of salt, the systemic arterial blood pressure is usually about 90/60 mm Hg, a level near what it is at birth but a level in the Western world often associated with shock; 3) stroke; 4) obesity; 5) diabetes mellitus; 6) some common cancers (colon, breast, prostate gland); 7) constipation, cholecystitis, gallstones, appendicitis, diverticulosis, hemorrhoids, inguinal hernia, varicose veins; 8) renal stones; 9) osteoporosis and osteoarthritis; 10) salmonellosis and trichinosis; and 11) cataracts and macular degeneration. from William C. Roberts, "Facts and ideas from anywhere," Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2007 April; 20(2): 200–208. Also available as Roberts WC. Atherosclerosis: its cause and its prevention. Am J Cardiol. 2006;98(11):1550–1555

3806

Reasons to homeschool

Parents who choose to homeschool put in a lot of work and hours, but I think they get back more than they give. Sherry has a wonderful post about winding down the school year here. She writes one of the best book blogs on the internet. You'll never be sorry you visited.

But the essay on homeschooling by a Catholic mother at First Things really blew me away, Schooling at home by Sally Thomas. Something about her "day in the life" reminded me of my mother and myself--the way we taught while we parented, although neither of us homeschooled. Every moment was a teachable moment. Now when I yearn to hear Mom's voice (she died in 2000), I remember the days as a child wishing she'd just stop explaining, elaborating, using family stories and history, showing me the innards or roots of some animal or plant, how to hold a paint brush, where to put the horse's hock on my drawing, etc. etc. Homeschooling is good for kids, but it's really wonderful for the parent.

3805

Never forgive

The United States forgave Japan's war debts years ago, decades actually. But now Guam wants compensation for the occupation by the Japanese, so where to go, where to go. Why--to Congress for reparations of course. It failed last time, but now we've got Democrats in power.

Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo in March introduced the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act, which calls for federal compensation related to the Japanese occupation of Guam between 1941 and 1944.

Bordallo introduced the same bill during her last term, but it failed to pass. Story here.

It was supposed to come up this morning in the House Natural Resources Committee. Oh, that sounds green! Sure to make it this time. Any shade of green as long as it costs money.

Madeleine doesn't look very ethnic Pacific Islander, does she? Her deceased husband was the governor of Guam. Since 1973 Guam has had a non-voting delegate in the House. They do get to vote in committee, however, and she's a member of the committee to which this was proposed.

HT Hoystory

3804

Mort and me

It's phone tag in cyberspace. I occasionally drop by the blog, Octogenarian, written by a retired journalist living the good life as a snowbird in Florida. Mort is a secular Jew who had a fascinating career and is enjoying sharing his memories while upgrading his technical skills. Like me, he does get political. And he's a liberal. Earlier this spring his blogging was a story in the Palm Beach Post which he posted at his blog. I was a bit surprised, knowing all the problems in the world and his vast experience and talent, that what irked him most was "mean-spiritedness and lack of compassion of people, especially those from the religious right." I tried to comment, but the comments had been turned off for that one, so I went to an older entry and commented that compared to some really big problems (and I cited the ones exacerbated by the liberals) this seemed like an odd complaint.

When Mort found my comment he e-mailed me to clarify, which of course I had to answer with even more documentation. However, his e-mail server bounced my message, saying it was for spam abuse. So I had to go back to his blog, leave another message that in addition to facing closed comments, I was now blocked from replying to his e-mail. He has e-mailed me saying he doesn't know why, but of course, I can't respond. Nor can I leave my other e-mail address at his blog, because if I wanted that spread all over the internet, I wouldn't be using Medscape. Here's my comments in response to "mean spirited religious right" (code words for conservative Christians, not conservative Jews or Muslims or Hindus).

I was disappointed to see you set up the strawman "religious right" as what irks you most in life. I'm an evangelical Christian and a Republican, who was a Democrat until age 60. I can't imagine that you search the dial for conservative talk shows, and you certainly can't find conservatives on the network or cable news, unless you are watching the very timid Fox News. I, on the other hand, have almost no access to fairness unless I choose Fox, which sometimes is a bit too entertaining and giggly for my tastes. I read all the major papers, but am subjected to terribly biased opinion posing as news in the NYT, Wapo and WSJ. I don't mind it at all on the OpEd page where it belongs--just don't throw it into the news reporting. Because you are a liberal, I think you see this as "normal" or the way it ought to be because people can't be trusted to judge for themselves.

I believe I saw a survey that journalists were about 12:1 liberal to conservative; but you have nothing on librarians, who are 224:1 liberal to conservative. These are the folks who buy all the anti-Bush and anti-Christian books they can get their hands on, while insisting that another view must make it through the accepted review channels of Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, both owned by the same publisher.

What irks me most isn't left wing harangues, blogs or reporting. That is so much hot air. It's the result of leftist and socialist ideas that make it through congress or into the business world that result in real damage. What irks me is millions of Africans dying of malaria because do-gooders got DDT taken off the market; what irks me is the 60% poverty rate for single women and children when it is only 3% for married women, an almost direct result of militant feminism; what irks me is the head long rush into silly, expensive regulations and crushing business decisions that global warming fundamentalists are trying to impose--it's just a new age religion in different robes; what irks me is journalists who buried on the back pages the Christians who were tortured, mutilated (disemboweled, castrated, throats cut while alive) and murdered by Turkish Muslims, when Muslim terrorists who were "subjected" to wearing women's undergarments made the front pages for weeks and months.

Republicans are weak and disorganized and religious conservatives have all the same problems as anyone else--divorce, obesity, ill health, mortgages, etc. You need to find a bigger, stronger enemy to face down, and unfortunately, I think it is going to be the anti-semitic left wing of your party.

So in an e-mail he clarified it: hate in talk radio seemed to be the culprit. Well, here again, I'm pretty sure Mort doesn't listen to Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, but I do. And I also read or watch the major media. If you watch CBS, NBC, ABC TV or read NYT, WaPo, WSJ or USAToday, you can't get away from the liberal media. You'd have to look for the conservative media--and talk shows are opinions and don't pretend to be news, balanced or otherwise. The major media vehicles publish opinion as news. That's a HUGE difference.

And I read the web sites like Media Matters, that slices and dices and dispenses the raw meat to the liberals, what they think the talk show hosts are saying. Maybe 2 lines from a 3 hour show. But this I do know. If Rush Limbaugh is a Christian, he never mentions it. Glenn Beck is open about being a Mormon. Michael Medved and Dr. Laura are very open about being observant Jews. Laura Ingraham is very open about being a Catholic. Bill Bennett is some sort of conservative Christan (Southern Baptist?), but I don't know which brand, same with Hugh Hewitt.

Parody and poking fun is not "hate speech," Mort. Pointing out inconsistencies in Michael Fox's ads for political candidates is not "hate"; just because he has a disease doesn't mean he gets a pass to lie. Although I'm sure our Democratic Congress will try to make it so. What Rosie O'Donnell says IS hate speech because you get her words combined with her hate-filled expressions on TV, but if she can find a sponsor for it, let the public decide with their consumer dollars whether to support her hatefulness. Even so, she wasn't removed for her words, but for her demands for more money.

Rush Limbaugh (the non-religious talker) is first of all an entertainer, former disc-jockey, and sportscaster. He uses phrases and voice clips from the people he parodies--like "Barack the magic Negro," a phrase from the left coast LA Times, or the Justice Brothers, sound bites of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton singing duets about victimhoodness. His term "Feminazis" is close--but still no cigar, because it was a term applied many years ago to just a couple of shrill women in the media, who in fact, do support programs and ideas that would probably result in the demise of the male gender if taken seriously. Rush will often just read the words of a liberal columnist or journalist--that's all--just read it aloud. With pauses. Giggles. Sighs. Laughter. Now is that hate speech? One of his favorite phrases is the "drive-by media" (journalists who don't actually listen to him but take pot shots) who use the phrase "mean-spiritedness."

And "lack of compassion?" Mort, there have been so many studies on the generosity of conservative Christians--they far exceed the liberals and humanists, and liberal Christians. Protestant denominations and Catholic orders take Matthew 25 very, very seriously. That is our marching orders, not the belief that we will change the world. That's why humanistic-academic social plans so often fail or make things worse in the long run--they have no roots, no deep source and just enlarge the problems they try to solve. So, here I, the librarian, just have to tell a journalist to go back and review your sources.

A WSJ story about a new test for Down Syndrome ran yesterday. Although it mentioned the number of false positives, it did not say that 90% of women whose babies tested positive for Down Syndrome chose abortion. Now that, Mort, is a liberal slant to a news story. It was what was left out.

But sometimes it is the word choice. White intermarriage. Black miscegenation. Two phrases in the same story about intermarriage of races.

Or how about these.

Global warming. Climate change.

Pro-choice. Anti-choice. Pro-abortion. Anti-life.

Iraq debacle. Iraq conflict.

Right wing conservatives. Democrats.

Lots of ways to slant the news.

3803

God Bless America

‘God Bless America’

We hear George Bush say it regularly; in fact in all our imported US TV and films, the phrase ‘God Bless America’ is a very natural and normal expression in the USA, as well as talking about praying.

The use of God and prayer in public life by public people is a question of your sanity in the UK. The US has a separation of church and state, yet has a very religious society. The UK has a state church, but a very secular society.

But if the UK prime minister used these phrases, there would be outcry; they are inconceivable in public life, except maybe for our Queen. In deed earlier this year Tony Blair in an in-depth and wide ranging interview referred to his belief in God in guiding him, and there was a public outcry, and fear that he was a religious maniac.

Even our Queen, can only make a statement of broad general spirituality, rather than a definite claims of God being for us as a nation, and an appeal to prayer.

There is a voluntary principle in the USA with no tradition of church-state, yet the US is a country that claims ‘One Nation under God’ and that ‘in God we trust’. Whilst 40% claim to attend weekly in the US, with people seemingly anxious to be seen as churchgoing, in the UK the claim for church association is 5-7%. It is 1% in many of our largest towns and cities.

Religion in the UK was imposed until recent times, but we can now choose our religion. In the USA, religion has always been personal choice. I’m not sure if that qualifies us to make any observations, but it might explain some of the ways we see things taking shape in the USA, and I hope help you understand us better." Brian McLaren , a Letter from London

One percent attend church in some of your towns. Who is writing you letters? Sounds like you could use some encouragement and a little Gospel of Jesus Christ. And looks like Americans should never advocate a state church.

3802

The Kansas Tornadoes

Have you seen the photographs of the flattened Greensberg, KS? Then before they could even pull people out of the rubble, some more came through the same area. Fortunately, the people were prepared with a warning system, or there would have been a huge loss of life. But. . .



Did you hear the Kansas Governor, Kathleen Sebelius, thinks that if Bush weren't in office, the National Guard could make this terrible scene better? Better than what? What is left to guard? It amazes me how the Bush Derangement Syndrome blows into town to affect otherwise intelligent, capable people, aka Democrats. Before this silly comment, she'd been a Democratic rising star. Must be burn out.

I looked at the death count--10, for a town of 1,600. Isn't that a higher percentage than New Orleans' Katrina? Does Bush hate white folk? Rural people? He waited 4 or 5 days before going there. Did Kansas have tornadoes before Global Warming?

3801

Porn again Christians?

You can go to this site for all the details and follow the links to come to your own conclusions. I'll just pull out a few. I wouldn't say I've seen porn on Christian blogs and websites, but I have seen some pretty unseemly, sloppy stuff, and I've heard of it creeping into our local churches in careless attempts to be "relevant" in reaching out to unbelievers.

Said [Chris] Rosebrough, "Rupert Murdoch is a born-again Christian and Rick Warren claims to be his pastor. As a Christian, Murdoch is committing an egregious sin by owning, expanding and profiting from pornographic channels and Rick Warren, as his pastor, has a Biblical duty to call Murdoch to repentance and/or put him out of the church."

I didn't know that Murdoch owns Zondervan, the publisher of Warren's best selling Purpose Driven Life. This is sad, sad indeed.

I just scored 100% in that quiz on religion that Newsweek ran about 2 months ago. You don't have to get an A in religion to know in your gut that pornography hurts women and children, hurts marriages, hurts society, grinds the soul and mind into the dirt, and makes mega-millions for the owners and producers. Mixing Christian books into the TV soft porn business? Come on, Pastor Warren, step up [to the collection plate] and do some counseling. I like a good investment portfolio, but there are certain products I won't buy--alcohol, nicotine, and viaticals. But I thought I was pretty safe with Christian books.