March 2010
“Relational care, rather than quasi-military intervention or the miraculous...”
– Melissa Raphael
Ten Reasons Pastors are Important →
1. They lead social movements that change the world.
2. They speak truths that create guardrails to keep us out of danger and stop us from hurting each other.
3. They introduce us and remind us about God, who redeems us and guides us in love.
4. They model good marriages and families (Your mind may have gone to an exception, but quickly list five who do. It’s an easy list to create.)
5. They...
“Lest we forget — George W. Bush and the GOP Congress passed Medicare Part...”
– David Brin
How the FBI busted one YouTube nutjob in under a... →
The next day, March 27, the FBI sent an “Emergency Disclosure Request” by fax to Google, asking for the IP address of the uploader. Google provided the most recent one, an IP address that had been used to access YouTube within the last week.
The FBI then took the address to Verizon and issued an “Emergency Situation Disclosure Request By Law Enforcement.” Verizon turned...
“Now that health care reform has been signed into law, the right-wing myths...”
– daggatt
An Open Letter to Persecuted American Christians →
Christianity is the dominant religion in America. Most Americans are Christians of one stripe or another. Oh, plenty of you complain about atheists picking on you with our books and our blogs and our criticisms of your belief. Plenty of you cry foul when atheists make our presence known in some way or another, as if our mere existence is a threat to your religious freedom. Plenty of you whine...
“The difference between a good and a bad loan is that in a good loan the lender...”
– The Sin of Usury
“While the term has sometimes been used to support ideologies of the left and...”
– Jim Wallis
“I am coming to understand that as Americans, we were born into a powerfully...”
– Joe Bageant
The iPad Needs The Web, but the Web Does Not Need... →
“The West has always claimed to be on the side of David against Goliath, and it...”
– Jacques Ellul (via unburyingthelead)
'Bondage club' expense irks insiders →
Top donors and committee members for the Republican National Committee expressed outrage Monday over the nearly $2,000 the committee spent on “meals” at a bondage-themed club in West Hollywood.
“Romantic love is blind to everything except what is lovable and lovely, but...”
– Frederick Buechner
Finding the Forgotten Man →
Modern American conservatism formed in the early years of the Cold War, when New Deal liberalism seemed triumphant. Though it has many tributaries, the mainstream movement consists of several core ideas: that societies are ordered in classes based on divine intent and/or personal responsibility; that property and freedom are inseparable; that markets should be unfettered from government...
“Years ago I read a book called Country of my Skull, about the Truth and...”
– Donald Miller
“Gingrich contends that his observation that Democrats “… will have...”
– Newt the Truthsayer
“You may recall that the winter of despair—the depth of the Great Depression—came...”
– This Recession is Going To Be a Long One
Tea Party Members, Are You Serious? If So Sign The... →
I will abstain from the use of and participation in any socialist goods and services including but not limited to the following:
Social Security
Medicare/Medicaid
State Children’s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP)
Police, Fire, and Emergency Services
US Postal Service
Roads and Highways
Air Travel (regulated by the socialist FAA)
The US Railway System
Public Subways and Metro Systems
...
“Necessitous men are not free men.”
– President Roosevelt
With No Jobs, Plenty of Time for Tea Party →
Mr. Grimes is one of many Tea Party members jolted into action by economic distress. At rallies, gatherings and training sessions in recent months, activists often tell a similar story in interviews: they had lost their jobs, or perhaps watched their homes plummet in value, and they found common cause in the Tea Party’s fight for lower taxes and smaller government.
The Great Depression, too,...
“The arrest of a heavily armed Christian militia in Michigan, beyond what it...”
– Global Guerrillas
Hockey team made famous in 'Slapshot' moves to... →
Call it a sad day for hockey.
The Chiefs, indelibly linked to the 1977 movie “Slap Shot,” are heirs to a minor league hockey tradition that dates to 1941. But there is no happy ending to this real-life plot. The relocation to Greensville, S.C., was announced in mid-February and has been approved by the East Coast Hockey League.
This Cambria County city, 70 miles east of Pittsburgh,...
“One might say that industrialization eradicated hand-crafted production to the...”
– New Rules for the New Economy
“…it is generally held that Adolf Hitler is the reason Nazism arose in Germany...”
– Jesus and Hitler Atone for our Sins?
“There is little more despicable than preying upon the generosity of Americans by...”
– Do Hannity and North operate a “charitable” fraud?
“Inclusion is the heart of the biblical narrative. Exclusion is not. We won’t...”
– nakedpastor
“Jesus became a heretic to the religion of his day. Perhaps part of what he...”
– Drew Tatusko
“One intriguing quirk is that the metro Phoenix freeway system that has so...”
– Rogue Columnist
Health Care for All: Not Perfect, but Right (and... →
I mean let’s face it, American Christians are not 2-3c Christians. Americans have long fought the battle over religious freedom, governmental control, and private citizenry. It’s part of our historic DNA and it is what inspires us to do such amazingly good (and bad) things in the service of others around the world. But what seems most apparent to me about today’s vote on Health Care Reform for...
“America is controlled by what economists call rent-seeking behaviour. Virtually...”
– Ian Welsh
“The Democrats and their liberal apologists are so oblivious to the profound...”
– Chris Hedges
“It’s true that humans have a need to categorize their thoughts in order to make...”
– Donald Miller
“Sometimes I wonder if evangelicals simply use the word “liberal” as...”
– Brian McLaren
“What if the Tea Party ruled? Imagine a land, let’s call it Glennbeckistan,...”
– Chip Ward
Modern Slavery →
Inside of the truck the seven cases are described powerfully through the use of primary sources—court documents, indictments, criminal complaints, testimony. Miguel Flores and Sebastian Gomez held 400 workers under the watch of armed guards and assaulted—even shot—those who tried to escape. Abel Cuello held more than 30 tomato workers in two trailers in the isolated swampland...
“AT&T says it’s writing off a billion dollars. Caterpillar took a $150...”
– Ezra Klein
“Am I the only one who senses it might be America’s turn to go nuts? I...”
– James Howard Kunstler
“Because of Reaganomics, Social Security was converted from a pay-as-you go...”
– David Cay Johnston
“A sense of empathy … is one that I find myself appreciating more and more...”
– President Obama
What happens if the Iceland volcano blows →
The potential eruption of Iceland’s volcano Katla would likely send the world, including the USA, into an extended deep freeze.
“When Katla went off in the 1700s, the USA suffered a very cold winter,” says Gary Hufford, a scientist with the Alaska Region of the National Weather Service. “To the point, the Mississippi River froze just north of New Orleans and the East...
“People’s fears of losing their jobs, their homes, their savings, pensions,...”
– America, The Remix