A blog about prisons

I've been in a number of prisons, not as a prisoner, but as a visitor primarily following the same guy through the system until after seven years or so he was "shock parolled" after his 5th wife was murdered by her boyfriend leaving a baby to raise. I guess the parole board thought he was the guy to do it. The reason he had a baby was that he had escaped in the prison garbage truck and they left town together.

Yesterday the Conestoga group met at the Ohio Historical Society (now open only on Saturdays due to budget cuts by the state) to hear David Meyers talk about the local music scene. Wonderful presentation with great photos. David has over 4,000 pages of manuscript on this topic and a huge rare record collection--that's sort of what a fascination with local history can do. But he has also written about Ohio's prisons, and his latest book is out. While checking that web page I came across his blog, Central Ohio's Historic Prisons. Because of Dave's encyclopedic interests in music, records, film, prisons, local history (he also worked on Columbus Unforgettables series now out of print), screen writing, religion and family, he somehow manages to merge all of them in his blog--with photos. See the record labels about the great Ohio Penitentiary fire, April 21, 1930! And did you know the Professor of psychology at OSU who coined the term "moron" was once the coach of the USC Trojans? It's all on Dave's blog. Ah, a blogger after my own heart.

He's also on Facebook, and a member of UALC for you locals.

Should you forward a chain letter?

I don't. But you have to decide. Some I check out and if they prove to be true, and I think the message is reasonable, factual and important for people who stop by here, I will post excerpts or direct to it. A recent one was "Luteran Airlines" which I posted (after checking) on my faith blog. It was hysterical. One of the reasons I fact check is that although there may be parts of it that are true, someone along the links in the chain has modified, twisted or glamorized it. I didn't see most of the hate-Bush chains because people I know either didn't believe them or didn't receive them, but I've certainly come across them on the internet. Obama's "I will fundamentally change the country" theme and his blatant narcissism making him the butt of so many jokes have certainly caused an increase in these letters. People are angry, hurt and outraged, and I don't blame them. But there's no need to lie or twist the truth--his lack of transparency, his lies and his colleagues are sufficient. Please, stop with the chain letters.

Here's a web site useful for Christians who either do or don't forward chain letters. Very interesting. Christians who break all chain letters But you decide. Read the right hand column.

"But it's real, I checked." "It isn't animation or photoshop." "It's a real person in that video."

That doesn't matter. It's still a chain letter because it's viral and it's circulating like wild fire. If you got it once, you'll probably get it again from someone else.

"But I don't really believe all the chain curse stuff, I just liked the joke/poem/sayings etc."

That is what's called the 'hook' and it is the big manipulation. Give you a tasty carrot so you'll pass it along with the stick as well. It's still a chain letter, it's still viral, and you won't be the first or last person who was impressed enough by the joke or poem or whatever to pass it along, with the curse crap still attached. Whether you believe the curse stuff or not, passing it along, posting it without thoroughly trashing it makes you appear to believe it, and you don't want to look like a gullible schmuck, so just don't promote/spread it.

The D Word

Carlos Alcala who writes for McClatchy had an article in today's Dispatch about the reluctance to use the D (death, dying) word. My goodness, I wrote about that thirteen years ago. I even wrote a poem about it because I like to write about words, fudge phrases, jargon, new words, vocabulary and euphemisms. My concern is not the euphemisms, but that now more and more people don't even get a verb!

Today in the obituaries

Dying for a Verb
By Norma Bruce
September 28, 1997

Emmy Lou departed this world;
Frank entered his eternal rest;
Polly is at home with the Lord.

Ray’s gone to his home in glory;
Ted is asleep with the angels;
Ann Louise simply crossed over.

And I am left to wonder why
They sent him off without a verb--
“Ralph David, May 15, at home.”

When my earth's book is overdue,
Please open heaven’s library;
Let me live in God’s promises.

When finally I fold this tent,
Lease me a heavenly mansion
Renewable eternally.

When I slip out of the saddle,
Boost me up high to ride bareback
On a steed into the stronghold.

When the last crumbs have been swept up,
Seat me at the banquet table
To listen with the disciples.

When the final ticket’s been bought,
Give me the best seat in the house
To hear the angels’ choir sing.

When I’ve gathered up the harvest,
Fill my buckets, silos and bins
To overflowing with God’s love.

When the bow breaks in the treetops,
Bear me up on wings of eagles
Never faint, tired or weary.

Pine box, urn, or fancy casket,
Paragraph, note or just a line;
Don’t send me off without a verb!

Buppie, Who me?

This morning there was an e-market mail for me, "Buppies who are looking for love, romance or just friendship now have a unique resource that can help them discover their future soul mate." That gave me a chuckle--I'm a WURL--White Urban Retired Librarian not a Black Urban Professional. This appeal was only slightly less on target than "You have a mega-fortune waiting from a long lost relative (in Nigeria, Uganda, UK) if you just send me some cash."

But I did go on-line and found out there is a BET web series called Buppies that has had all sorts of problems getting off the ground, but apparently is now up and running starring (and partially financed by) Tatiana Ali of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air fame (which I only saw on reruns). She plays the role of Quinci. Just glancing through the plot lines, it sounds a bit like Sex and the City meets Friends, but I never watched either one, so that's a wild guess.

After losing her father and being dumped by her fiancé, Quinci, the socialite daughter of a Hollywood celebrity, realizes that her friends are her only real family left. This provocative and ironic series chronicles the relationship dramas of Quinci's dysfunctional but virtually inseparable friends as they navigate the perks and pratfalls faced by LA's young black power elite.

From there I wandered into Steve Harvey and an award show. Didn't know he had a clothing line. Looks like hats are indeed coming back.

Eating out--we're creatures of habit

It's price. It's taste and freshness (i.e., the menu). It's relationships. It's wait time. So we usually go to the Rusty Bucket on Friday night, about 5 p.m. and meet Joyce and Bill or Wes and Sue or Jack and Sue (a different Sue, of course) or Joan and Jerry or the Visual Arts Ministry from UALC. It's a sports bar and neighborhood hang out--not far from Ohio State with a bazillion TVs and a noisy bar area (we don't sit on that side so we can talk). I also usually stop at Panera's in the morning. I used to visit 3 different coffee spots, but then they made a slight change in their coffee, and it became worth going back on a regular basis, plus there is a fire place, good music, and again, the relationships you build over time. The morning staff. The exterminator. The retiree who's taking care of his invalid wife. The high school students. The Christian author. The friend you met in a Bible study in 1973. The chef/publisher you meet quite by accident who now owns your former home of 34 years.

Panera's is a lovely place for lunch or breakfast meetings, but somehow, a Friday night date? Hmmm. Not so much. Just not the right ambiance. But I did do a little price comparison this morning, since I'm big on price. Panera's has a yummy new sandwich--"Mediterranean salmon salad" with chilled salmon, field greens and romaine, Kalamata olives, red onions, feta cheese, mandarin oranges and sliced almonds for $8.95. Laying down a few pieces of chicken or fish on a bed of lettuce with a little fruit and nuts seems to be all the rage today, and Rusty Bucket has something similar--"Blackened salmon salad" with baby spinach, iceberg and romaine lettuce, fresh strawberries, candied pecans, red onion slices, and blue cheese crumbles for $9.95. Very little difference in price, although you'd need to tip at the Bucket for them serving you at the table. At 5 p.m. there's no wait at the Bucket, but at 6 you might wait 20-30 minutes. At Panera's you might wait to order, and then wait for your name to be called as they prepare it. So for a dollar or two, I think we'll stick with our regular date night spot for 5 p.m. on Friday, and continue paying ridiculous prices to drink coffee away from home at 6 a.m.

Either one of these salads probably has 480-550 calories, depending on what you do with dressing, but last night I had the Philly Cheese sandwich with fries and sour cream dip, which is probably about 2,000 calories and a week's worth of sodium.

It only took me a month

There have been many assessments of Obama's first year--the left claiming his victories, and the right claiming his failures, or even victories if like me they thought the downward spiral was intentional. But at the end of February 2009, I provided a first month evaluation. If he'd been like other state and federal employees, he wouldn't have made it beyond the probation period. I was 100% on target.

I think the federal government--whether Bush with the Democratic Congress or Obama with the Democratic congress--needed to back off in 2008 and 2009 and let those companies in debt, banks and insurance companies included, struggle and die or merge and be bought out. President Bush failed his party and became President Hoover overnight--but he really stopped governing in October and turned everything over to Treasury and the incoming Obama administration. Hoover had 3 years of throwing money at the problem 1929-1932, Bush didn't. Then FDR continued socializing industries and the courts for another 12 years, until WWII pulled us out of it. Hoover is blamed and Roosevelt acclaimed. Baffles me. Allowing the economy to come back on its own is what happened in 1999-2000 during the last bear market. Jump starting it with tax cuts for tax payers, not tax takers, is what got it going again after 9/11.

Obama and the banks

When the clutch/herd/murder/band/covey/swarm of advisers around Obama saw the stock market rally Monday at even the hint that Scott Brown might win, they squashed it on Wednesday with Obama's announcement of more bank regulation. I never had an economics course, but I was listening to Michele Bachmann, the lone voice of sanity in Minnesota (and the next legislator I'll support), yesterday who says Pelosi has painted a bulls eye on her forehead. Let me paraphrase until I can look her up. "Just get out of the way--no more new regulations or taxes and reduce what we already have. The economy will start to turn around in a quarter." Obama's move was a real smack down for any even considering saving the economy, a pay back for Tuesday's vote. I think he was responding to Brown's clear message, "Brown ran on a very specific, very clear agenda. Stop health care. Don't Mirandize terrorists. Don't raise taxes; cut them. And no more secret backroom deals with special interests." Krauthammer link.

But how was this portrayed by WaPo, which continues to carry his water even after all the disastrous moves (I won't call them mistakes, because I think they were intentional) with the economy, national security, and the environment of his first year. Here's what showed up in my e-mail--"The populist brushfire that has burned through Democratic fortunes this week threatened Friday to claim Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, imperiling his nomination for a second term and sending an unsettled stock market tumbling for the third straight day." Not a peep that the stock market tumble was as a direct result of Obama's announcement. Nope--just those stupid independent voters, those misinformed racist chicken littles out there running around like their heads were cut off. Why did this hurt the economy when unemployment is over 10%--and much higher here in Ohio?

"Daniel Ariens, whose company manufactures and markets snowblowers and lawnmowers, works closely with two regional banks in Chicago. If you want to stimulate the economy, he says, you can't keep "beating down on people who finance the infrastructure of this economy."

Todd Teske, CEO of Briggs & Stratton Corp., is concerned about who will pay for more regulation. "I've heard this has the potential for driving up costs for the banks," he said. "To the extent those costs are passed on to their customer base, that becomes problematic."

"Uncertainty over financial regulatory authority and what it means to the largest financial providers to the economy is not good," Keith Sherin, chief financial officer of General Electric Co., said Friday. GE is challenging some proposals in Washington that could change how its bruised finance arm, GE Capital, is structured, regulated or taxed. A recently proposed Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee could cost GE Capital $500 million, after taxes, for a full year." WSJ Link

Could the problem be that no one in the Obama administration has ever worked for any sector other than the government which only sees higher taxes and more regulations as the way to recovery and/or growth? Think about it. Gov. Granholm of Michigan is one of his economic advisers.

Friday family photo--Kirby

I was tracking back through some visitors to my blog that had stopped at my story about my cousin Kirby Johnson and his time with The Lincolns, a group of friends from the University of Illinois which later changed their name to the Wellingtons, and found this photo (p. 75 of Mouse Tracks in case this shows differently on your page).

Living cheap in New York

This one surprised me. Not that a 22 year old could live on less than $30,000 in NYC, but that she could also save $5,000, contribute to a retirement fund, and travel to Europe. Read about cheapskate's daughter at "Down but not out in Brooklyn." The keys?

Shared a nice apartment ($3,100 a month) and took the smallest room.

Used a subway card.

Ate inexpensive but healthy meals--beans and rice, whole grains, fresh vegetables, lentils, joined a food co-op. Ate at cheap restaurants.

Had no college debt to pay off.

Enjoyed the many free things to do in New York.

Faith Lutheran Church, Forreston, Illinois

Our family members were "visitors" here for five years--we participated in everything. Bible school, junior and senior choirs, Sunday School, confirmation classes, lots of church dinners, special dramatic events--we did it all. In the past 50 or so years I've been back several times. Still a warm, loving, welcoming congregation. This video is in honor of their 150th anniversary last fall.

Please eat and drink in the staff lounge

Yesterday I closed out an IRA at a local bank and moved it to a stock account. It's like trying to round up a bunch of cats, and once you start drawing these down, you really are better off to have them in one place.

It's a handsome, beautifully appointed bank. The woman invited me to her desk in the open lobby when I explained what I wanted. She brought with her a large, Styrofoam coffee cup with the rim completely covered with lipstick. I looked. There was none on her mouth--it was all on the cup. Also on the desk was a pint jar of flavored tea, and a smaller bottle of coke. Really now, it's a bank. It's a place of business. Must you eat and drink in front of the customers?

About two years ago we went to a different local bank to begin the process of selling a house to our son. The loan officer was talking to us through her sandwich--rustling bag, drippy napkin, picking her teeth, etc., so she turned us over to the new guy. He knew nothing about mortgages, so we moved on, but at least he wasn't eating.

I've been in clinics awaiting a colonoscopy where the staff not 10 feet from the gurneys are eating and drinking and discussing the week-end events.

No wonder we have an obesity problem in this country! People are in a state of panic thinking they might be be out of sight of food for an hour so they bring it into the work area. Someone needs to swab and culture their keyboards and use it in a health class.

When Hitler found out about Scott Brown

HT husband's high school buddy

I had to shink this a little to get the subtitles to read, so you can go here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4aQCiRjvZY

Thirty seven years ago

"Today is the day, 37 years ago, that changed our world.

37 years ago today, nine male justices on the United States Supreme Court decided that abortion should be legal in all fifty states, for any reason, at any time during pregnancy.

50,000,000 unborn children have lost their lives since then.

Today, one child is aborted every 23 seconds in the United States.

One child. 23 seconds.

By now, we all know someone who has been touched by this demon. Someone in your church, a friend of a son or daughter, someone in your neighborhood, a relative . . ."

Tim Welsh, Executive Director
Pregnancy Decision Health Centers
614.888.8774, Extension 6116

All of us were "fearfully and wonderfully made" according to the Bible--Psalm 139: 13-14 "For you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

Donate and save a child's life or help a mother raise her child or assist her with an adoption plan. Someone out there feels desperate, like there's no solution. Offer your hand and help her.

Fifty million. That's a holocaust and no one lifted a gun or built a gas oven.

Massachusetts Independent

Robert Allan Schwartz, an MA-I, had a passionate letter in today's WSJ:

I do not need, want or expect a town, city, state or federal government to take care of me."

Oh really? That sounds great at tea party rallies, but how does that actually work out?

My home in Upper Arlington, Ohio was built in 1977 with codes that probably wouldn't pass muster today but which were much improved over our home of 34 years built in 1939 in the same community. In our former home, we found a tangle of wiring and plumbing (previous owner's improvements) every time we remodeled. The furnace took up an entire room and all the windows leaked. Trees, that are no longer allowed for landscaping, sent roots through the waste pipes and had thorns 3-4" long that could go right through a shoe. Dogs had no leash laws back then--and a friend of my son was knocked down in the city, tax supported park by a friendly, non-biting mutt, and broke both legs.

The residents of UA had taxed themselves plenty to live here and enjoy snow removal, garbage pick up, strict zoning, and outstanding schools. But there were plenty to vote against these amenities that kept our home values high. Sidewalks and streetlights, something I always had where I grew up, were illusive, and some neighborhoods 40-50 years old are just now getting them after many local battles at the polls. And a community center for the youth which I enjoyed in tiny Mt. Morris? It's been voted down for over 40 years.

We had a luxury 1969 Oldsmobile 40 years ago with an 8-track sound system, that couldn't hold a candle to the 2010 Town and Country I bought 2 months ago in cost, safety, comfort, gas mileage and gadgets. If conservatives and libertarians or the auto companies had led that fight, where would we be today? Would competition with Japan or Germany really have accomplished that?

Our first vacation week in Lakeside in 1974 the lake was like a mud bath. You wouldn't dream of eating a fish you caught and I didn't want the kids to swim in it. By the time we bought in 1988, you could see the bottom. The streets in June are now crunchy with the may flies--they had all but disappeared in the 1970s. The lake was too dirty. Industry didn't do that clean up for good PR. No. It took some strict environmental laws.

Everything about schooling and education seems up for grabs. Those folks seem to think the educational system is one big petri dish. It's hard to say if what my children got in 13 years in UA in the 1970s and 1980s was better or worse than today, but I think it was better than what I got in the 1940s and 1950s, except for history and geography. I think they both know WWI came before WWII and that Florida is south of Ohio and north of Brazil, but all other bets are off. And I did an awful lot of threatening and cajoling to make sure homework was accomplished because in those days "learning responsibility" was way more important than wisdom or knowledge and if a child couldn't or wouldn't plan ahead, well, that was just too bad. And God forbid you suggested memorizing or phonics!

I think some of the resulting laws of the women's movement that developed steam around 1970 have been a disaster for women and families alike. In some areas, the trade offs and "settling" make us oldsters weep. Soaring divorce rates, huge credit card debt for 2 income families, so many kids born out of wedlock to face a life of poverty with lots of "uncles" while mom gets her college degree, even odd diseases and allergies unknown when I was a child. But I really don't want to go back to the 2 or 3 tier system, where I was flat out told in a job interview I couldn't have it because my child was 9 months old and it was a policy at that school that the teachers' children couldn't be younger than 2 years. And I had walked 2 miles to the interview because we couldn't afford a car. No, those were not the "good old days" for women and children.

So I don't get too caught up in Glenn Beck complaining about "progressivism" of the 20th century from Wilson to McCain to Obama, because I know I benefitted from many changes--and after all, he's talking about the only USA I know. I'm not so naive that I didn't learn about federal money for canals and railroads that then built the country and huge fortunes, that I can't see that some green investment has the same goals. On the other hand, I know that what the government gives it can take away, like killing Ohio's energy industry through cap and trade and lining the pockets of the green investors.

So think twice or three times before you decide that everything local, state and federal government did for you in your lifetime was a waste.

More rules for banks--how's that working out?

Obama loves a straw man, doesn't he? If it's not fat cat CEOs, it's banks, it's lobbyists, or Americans who haven't heard enough of his speeches on healthcare. Anyone but him. On Thursday he proposed more rules that would impede the growth of large banks. In Wednesday's WSJ there was an article about HAMP, Home Affordable Modification Program--the $75 billion mortgage modification program which is suffocating the banks with its accounting rules. I think it's part of ARRA and so far has a 1% success rate. Has there ever been a boondoggle like ARRA with so many billions and so little to show for it? It requires banks to declare a loss when they haven't had one. Now how would you like to step into that cess pool and have the IRS or some regulator 5 years from now send you to jail? And you can bet your old passbook that strategic defaulters will learn how to muck it up and make it work and the plumber or university professor who foolishly bought at the top of the real estate run up won't be able to make it through the red tape, or will just walk away from their mortgage. (Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I don't think any of these programs are designed to work.)

Read Arkadi Kuhlmann's article "Why mortgage modification isn't working."

A Buckeye In Beltland

The election of Scott Brown has energized many independents and Republicans. Not so fast, says Daniel Williamson, Buckeye Rino. Is Capitol Hill really listening? He made 5 visits to Ohio legislators and had a few disappointments when he attended the 9/12 event last fall--especially with Voinovich, a Republican. He waited til now for his tell-all tale:

"And let’s recount the ways in which I’ve supported George Voinovich: I’ve voted for him every single time his name appeared on my ballot. I volunteered as an intern in his office on the 29th floor of the Riffe Tower when he was Governor helping file the “Governor’s Clips” gleaned from print media for ready reference at his fingertips. I’ve listened, in person, to his campaign speeches at venue after venue, including the swanky digs at Landerhaven for a very formal fundraiser where I had to make a large campaign donation to even gain entry. I’ve distributed his campaign literature door-to-door, even as I was doing my own campaigning for state rep in 2004. I’ve manned phone banks to help drum up commitments for donations, yard signs, and GOTV efforts. I’ve defended him against his adversaries in letters to newspapers and postings on internet bulletin boards. On my own blog and on the blogs of others, both on the left and on the right, I have vouched for Voinovich as a principled man, and have highlighted his strengths while others were bemoaning his deficiencies. I even went so far as to reprint one of his press releases in its entirety on my blog which I prefaced with my compliments to the Senator.

I thought we were on the same team. I was mistaken. I was rebuffed and repudiated."

It's probably not on the level that John Edwards' campaign workers are feeling, but it is disappointing. Probably why I do little other than stuff the occasional envelope, write a few checks, attend a rally if it's close to home, and gripe. And he goes on to visit Brown, Murray, Cantwell, and Smith. For fun this guy must slam his fingers in swinging doors. He concludes:

"I certainly have hopes that Scott Brown will adhere to his pledge to be the people’s Senator. But I’ve seen how the Beltway mentality seduces members of Congress over time. They don’t emerge from DC the same way that they arrived. I know this, though: the fresher they are in office, the less they are removed from the voters that sent them, and, conversely, the more veteran they become, the less they resemble anybody back home. They become creatures of the Beltway."

Excellent piece. Read the entire article.

Thursday Thirteen--the magazine clutter

Before I cleaned off the living room table I decided to count the magazines. Actually, there were more than 13, but two of the titles weren't really ours by subscription, residency or membership. In no particular order:

1. Timeline--this is the publication of the Ohio Historical Society, and we are members of Conestoga, and by virtue of that membership, we get the magazine and a newsletter, plus on-line notices. The on-line site of Timeline has a photo of a Lustron. I haven't seen that issue. My grandparents had one of those built in 1949.
   
   
2. American Artist--we could stock a small library with our back issues which we don't seem to be able to throw away.
   
   
3. Thrivent Magazine--this used to be called Lutheran Brotherhood and we have an IRA through this organization which made up a new word when it merged with something else.
   
   
4. Inland Seas--This was a Christmas present from our son and comes with a membership in the Great Lakes Hisotrical Society. Includes a newsletter. We have a home on Lake Erie.
   
   
5. Watercolor Artist--the newest issue is in my husband's office.
   
   
6. Columbus City Scene--local what to do.
   
   
7. Capital Style--a recent Columbus magazine. So far I haven't subscribed but it keeps finding its way to my door. Published by the Columbus Dispatch.
   
   
8. Lake Erie Living--really nice for anyone of the states or provinces bordering Lake Erie. I also have the premiere issue in my collection.
   
   
9. JAMA--although this journal of the American Medical Association is often over my head, I enjoy the poetry, essays, CDC reports, and editorial discussions. I have a donor for this one. When I accumulate a stack of 10 or so, I give them to a Columbus vo-tech teacher who passes them along.
   
   
10. Bird Watcher's Digest--another Christmas present. Published in Ohio--really interesting material even for a novice bird watcher like me.
    
    
11. UA Magazine--PR and advertising stuff about the community in which we live, published by Columbus City Scene.
    
    
12. Art Speaks--We're members of the Columbus Museum of Art, and this comes with the membership. We love to go down on Sunday after church and see the new show and eat lunch--my husband designed the cafe in the museum.
    
    
13. Garage Slab--my latest find, which I'm passing out at the coffee shop, published in Bexley (suburb). I'm not a "guest mechanic."

------------
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun!

My Watkins Wish

Remember me whining about not being able to find Watkins Shea Butter lemon cream in a jar? Even my daughter tried, and finally bought it for me in a tube (it's not the same, trust me). I even wrote to the company, J.R. Watkins in Minnesota, and inquired if there might be some stashed away someplace. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

Then I googled "discontinued Watkins" and found a list of those items 'to be discontinued' in 2010 and there was my product! So I chopped the url a bit to find where it had come from, and found the very helpful Lynne, a Watkins salesperson. You can check her out here with links to a Watkins catalog. Anyway, Lynne has promised me THREE jars. Woot. I'm so excited I'm plugging her great service even before I get it.

Also I've had an offer on the Teco pottery, (photo is of a reproduction) but I'm holding off a bit checking with a source that Mike B., an old friend from home and an antique dealer, has suggested. The lady who wanted to buy my lighted make-up mirror must have gotten cold feet, because I haven't heard from her lately. Oh yes, and the Garage Slab (magazine) guys came by yesterday and gave me a stack to distribute at the coffee shop. Really nice guys--an architect and an interiors contractor dabbling in publishing. And they gave me a vol. 1, no. 1, which I collect. I chatted up a lot of folks at the coffee shop today about the magazine. Talked to 3 guys were were light fixture repairmen--they didn't look like readers, but they really did pour over that magazine I gave them. So did the Columbus school teacher who only has a car port.

Revisiting federal aid to religious organizations

I'll revisit the topic--no one else is. I just don't want to contribute to Christian organizations that are accepting government grants to do their Christian good works. Period. End of discussion.

There are two mandates in the book of Matthew. One is to evangelize--Go and tell people about Jesus--in a nutshell. The other is to offer a cup of cold water, or food, or comfort to a prisoner, or clothing to the naked--NOT to change a system, NOT to use up tax money, NOT even to change an individual life. No promises are made here, except one. No, the reason given is that this provides the giver, the donor, the one doing the good deed, the opportunity to meet Jesus in the needy one. It's that simple. Don't believe me? Read the story of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25. I find it a bit of a stretch that we'll receive the inheritance prepared for us from the beginning of the world because we got a government grant and distributed it to the needy. That might be a worthy career if you are a federal employee, but it's not for the Christian layperson or staff.

Jesus never suggested that any follower take money from one person and give it to another; he never asked the disciples to go to the Romans for donations to spread the good news; he never said rich people were evil or that poor people were good--he always considered the individual.

Therefore, I was really unhappy to read this in an article about World Vision, whose President Richard Stearns is now on Obama's advisory board of faith based and neighborhood partnerships (I think that is a name change from the Bush years)

"Last year, World Vision received just over $280 million in federal grants — both cash and food — amounting to about 25 percent of what we received from U.S. sources. Little, if any, of this resulted from former President Bush's faith-based initiative. Those grants have met a wide range of needs including helping address AIDS in several nations, providing food for victims of famines, conducting gang-prevention activities in several U.S. cities including Seattle, and delivering aid and emergency services in responding to natural disasters." Link.

Once you accept money from the federal government, you must play by their rules, and they may let you give that cup of water, but smack you down on the telling about Jesus part. This is really unfortunate. As Americans, through no choice of our own, we already give generously to many projects through government agencies to help the poor, the disaster victim, the diseased, and the misguided. On our own by choice and sacrifice, we give vast amounts through charities and churches. I do not expect those agencies and groups to then use my gift to turn around and become the government's handmaiden to do the cleanup through federal grants.

TSA choice out--blames his critics, not self

"President Obama's nominee to lead the Transportation Security Administration withdrew from consideration Wednesday, saying his appointment had "become a lightning rod for those who have chosen to push a political agenda at the risk of the safety and security of the American people." "

Like there isn't anyone out there better qualified who hasn't misused his office?

"Errol Southers's nomination had been stalled due to a hold placed by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who said he had concerns about whether Southers would implement collective bargaining for TSA employees. Southers was also dogged by concerns about an episode in which he, as an FBI agent, used law enforcement resources to run a background check on his estranged wife's boyfriend."

Link at Politico 44.