Dow Down 778, Do You Have Any Money Left?

What a day dear readers, what a day.

Mondays are my light days, so I can work from home if I so choose. I did. And decided to go back and forth between CNBC and MSNBC to see what was going on as far as the bailout was concerned. Well....the answer came a little after 2:00 EDT. 228 nay, 205 yea.

Where do we go from here ladies and gentlemen? Here are some questions:

-Does the market really need $700 billion dollars?
-What protections should there be for the public and taxpayers?
-Is there any situation in which judicial review is a bad thing?
-What should happen in bankruptcy court in regards to mortgages?

Like I said, a few questions for consideration.

Those who know me in my non-anonymous life know that governance issues play a large role in my life. I also spend a bit of time trying to help those who make decisions understand how those decisions might play in the public eye. And my professional persona is cringing at how this is going to play tomorrow morning. It's not going to be pretty dear readers, not pretty at all. I'll probably write something about that later in the week.

Anyway, I hope you all are not panicking. Panicking is not good for anybody.

Hopefully Charlie Rose will talk about this tonight. My guess is he will.

The Long Goodbye, Paul Newman 1925-2008

Well it just came over the wire that Paul Newman has died at age 83.

Since my favorite line in all of movie-dom comes from "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof", I am sad at the news. But Newman lived a good life and even though he was taken away by cancer, he lived his life the way he wanted.

So dear readers, take a little time out to watch a movie that stars Paul Newman and celebrate a life well lived.

Is It Really A Bailout?

Hello dear readers.

I haven't written since the AIG mess, mainly because I've been watching CNBC most of the time when I'm not either working or in my class.

I can't answer the question as to is this really a bailout, but I'm upset at how this is being framed; as if everybody whose home has been foreclosed on was greedy and stupid and should have never gotten a home in the first place. If I remember this right, when the housing crisis started, the issue was not really the people who were working two jobs to keep their home, but "flippers" who thought they could make some quick money in the housing market and took out very risky loans to begin with. Am I remembering this right?

Well.....back to financial news....CNBC or Bloomberg.

It's 10:45.....Do You Know Where Your Money Is?

Well, the market goes down 446 points. What to make of that?

I must say I'm surprised that there isn't more postings on the financial situation, but I'm not really all that surprised. Bread-and-butter and money issues have never been big issues to talk about in many UU circles.

Anyway......should the government have bailed-out AIG?

Things Are Heating Up

Hello dear readers.

Seems like things are heating up in the UU-blogosphere over cultural misappropriation. I'll have a post about that soon.

Right now, though, I'm watching CNBC and all the talk about the financial markets. Very interesting stuff if I do say so myself.

What should/is going to happen to AIG?
Was the government wrong in not helping Lehman?
What the hell is Bank of America thinking buying Merrill Lynch?
Is this the beginning/middle/end of the financial crisis?

oh well, back to CNBC. And maybe Charlie Rose will talk about this tonight.

An Interesting Sounding Book

So I got to read the Times Book Review this week and came across a review of a book that I had heard about and have been intrigued by since I saw the title in the indie-booksellers newsletter.



The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff.



If you like historical fiction or mysteries, this sounds like it might be the book to pick up sometime. I plan to when I get to read for pleasure again.




I'll be back to writing about UUA stuff when life slows down next month.

The New Study Action Issue

Hello dear friends.

It never ceases to amaze me how UUs continue to find ways to make themselves irrelevant to more and more groups of people.

Let's talk about the new study-action issue that was passed at GA this year. Now before I go on my rant about it, let me be clear, I do think that how food is produced is an issue for concern.

That being said dear friends, if we're going to talk about ethical eating/food production, we need to remember that for a sizable portion of this country, food is being priced out of their reach. Especially fresh fruits and vegetables. And all these wonderful upper-class hippy ideas of co-ops and going local is just not possible for a number of people in this country.

Where is the discussion of this issue in the new CSAI? Did I miss it? Is there any talk of working with consumer groups that are working on this issue? Because this is not just about small farmers and farm workers, but about a whole system. And this is not just about poverty and hunger either. (it's not just the poor who are being priced out) This is also about geography and economic development, race and class, and so many other things.

Just a few thoughts. I'll probably have some more later.

Never Eat A Lemon Before Going On TV

Hello dear friends.

With Mmse. Peacebang taking a break on Beauty Tips.....I thought I would bring this up.

I just finished watching a segment on The NewsHour about the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac soon-to-be mess which was very interesting.

However, somebody needs to get their hands on Karen Shaw Petrou and give her a makeover like yesterday. And once they're done with that, tell her to relax her face when she is going to be on TV; it looked like she had just eaten a lemon before they started the segment.

Back to life in the real world............

There Should Be Some Advantage To Being A Fair Share Congregation

Hello dear readers.

I seem to be getting all sorts of good gossip these days, but this one is the most important to me.

It seems that the President of my district (Central Midwest for those of you who didn't remember) is a part of a congregation that is not in full Fair Share status with either the UUA or the district. Or at least that's what the gossip is.

This does not seem fair to me. There really should be some advantage to being a Fair Share congregation.

Is this a common occurrence in other districts? How can the President of a district faithfully stand there and talk about congregations contributing to the district at Fair Share levels and yet not be part of a congregation that is doing just that?

I'm developing a headache trying to make sense of this. So I shall stop here.

When 'I Told You So' Are The Only Words That Come To Mind

hello dear readers.....

the grapevine tells me that this year's Central Midwest District annual meeting lost money. hmmm......seems as if I was talking about some of the problems a few months ago.

but since my mother told me that if I didn't have anything nice to say to not say anything, I think I will keep my mouth shut.

until next time...............................

The Pope Speaks

and says this gem..........The clergy sex abuse scandal was sometimes "very badly handled".

Well......no Sh*t Sherlock!

and we went through a Papal Conclave to get him???????????

read more at: http://www.yahoo.com/s/859266

What Bible To Buy

I see that somebody on one of the other blogs has asked for recommendations as to what Bible translation to buy.

It doesn't surprise me that most of the recommendations are some version of the NRSV. I have 2 different NRSV study editions myself. I wonder though, if we liberal folk limit ourselves because we tend to only go for the NRSV.

So I'm going to make some other recommendations; Bibles that will work in UU settings, but aren't the NRSV.

1. The Jerusalem (or New Jerusalem) Bible.
As somebody who loves the poetry of the King James Bible but likes the historical-critical method, this version works for me.

2. The New International Bible or The Amplified Bible.
If you want to know what our conservative brothers and sisters are reading, pick one of these two.

3. The English Standard Bible.
There's nothing that really screams "You need to read me" from this Bible translation, but I still like it.

4. The New American Bible.
This is the official Catholic Bible, and is really good if you want a basic understanding in what Catholics consider their canon and what we Protestants have as ours.

I hope that others who have recommendations will post them.

Enjoy your Bible reading.

On This Day

Since today marks 40 years since the death of Martin Luther King Jr. I thought I would republish an old post that is about him. I'm cutting out some parts, but I think the questions are still valid.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
According to your sermon, you believe that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have been for marriage equality. I couldn't disagree with you more. From everything that I've read and heard about him, Dr. King was a typical black preacher of his time. He would have had a hard time with the women's movement (just look at how he interacted with the women in his life). And if you look at his complex relationship with Bayard Rustin, you can see that Dr. King had more ambivalent feelings about homosexuality than most black preachers. (I know part of the complexity with Rustin was due to Rustin's association with communism, but that's another subject)

So I guess my question is this: is your belief that Dr. King would have been for marriage equality a matter of faith(using Paul's definition of it as being the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen)? Or is there something out there about Dr. King that I haven't seen?

My concern is that we liberal religious folk are trying to co-opt people that we admire and use them for causes that we are involved in even though those we admire may not or wouldn't have been.

A Post of Interest

Hello dear readers.......

I'm back after a blogging break and thought I would point you to a post that I think is worth reading.

For those of you who know her, Kim Hampton has a blog talking about her experience at seminary. The most recent post that I've read is about her going to a worship service. Take a read at it:
http://eastofmidnight.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/built-for-silenceor-why-i-am-not-a-quaker

Maybe I'll talk to her some more about it at the Central Midwest District meeting at the end of the month.

"Nobody Puts Baby In A Corner"

Hello all.

Mademoiselle Peacebang sends a note of thanks to Patrick Swayze on both of her blogs. Take a look at them if you're a Swayze fan.

While the focus of Peacebang's posts are Swayze's role in Too Wong Foo, I would just like to put in a word for Dirty Dancing.

I remember the first time I saw Dirty Dancing. The music. The dancing. The setting. Everything combined to make the perfect movie in my teenaged eyes. And then there is my favorite scene, when Baby and Johnny are dancing on the log to "Hey Baby". Ahhhhh.....the height of romance to me. And in many ways is still my standard for romance.

I have truly "had the time of my life" watching Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing. And I know that many wish Patrick a good recovery and many days of dancing ahead.

If You Don't Stand For Something You Will Fall For Anything.....or Why Lent Matters

There's been much discussion of Lent these days on UU blogs. I find that wonderful. As someone who finds the Lenten season more important than any other season in the liturgical year, I like the fact that UUs are actually talking about something that is explicitly Christian.

Anyway....the passage in Mark (1:12-13) that tells of the journey into the wilderness says:

12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Jesus, these verses say, was DRIVEN into the wilderness. What does it mean to be driven like that? And to be surrounded by wild beasts yet have angels waiting on him. Wouldn't that have been a sight to see?

It was after this time in the wilderness that Jesus starts his public ministry. It was his public ministry that brought him to his death.

My parents taught me the saying that I'm using for the title of this post. You must stand for something or you will fall for anything. This is part of the reason that Lent matters to me. Jesus stood for something and was willing to die for it. What would I be willing to stand up for and die for if necessary?

In these days, what is the wilderness? What are the wild beasts? Are there angels out there wanting to wait on me?

These are the questions of Lent. And that is why Lent matters. (at least to me)

Daylight Savings Time Starts Sunday, Are You Ready?

Well dear readers, DST starts Sunday. Are you ready? I must admit that I'm not. After my last post on it, that probably comes as no surprise. The only upside this year is that it was already planned that I was going to miss church this Sunday. So at least I won't be one of those people who comes into church late because of the time change.

As you can see, I'm looking for an upside.

Looking For Humor

Hello dear readers.

I'm working on a sermon that is going to be about humor and religion and want suggestions as to who to quote from.

I do have some people picked out...a lot of the usual suspects; Twain, Swift, Colbert and Stewart. Now I'm looking for more on the religion side. Know of any good religious humorists? Or places to look for stuff on religion and humor?

There Should Be No Daylight Savings Time

Hello dear readers.
I needed to know what day Daylight Savings Time starts this year and since it's not in any of the calendars I bought I had to look for it online.

Daylight Savings Time starts on March 9th. March 9th. And it doesn't end until November 1. Eight months (almost)

Does anybody else remember when DST started in April? Mid- to Late April at that? And why do we need it anyway? It doesn't save the energy that they say it does. Why is it in the summer instead of the winter, when you really do need to save sunlight? Why 8 months instead of 6 like it used to be?

As you can see, dear readers, I have no use for DST.

The Single Smartest Decision Made in the 2008 Campaign

Hello dear readers.

As you all may remember, I have said that I have done the only political post I plan on writing. I'm sticking to that. Just barely.

I've been reading some articles the last few days talking about about the different campaigns; how organized or disorganized they are, strengths and weaknesses, etc. I've found them quite interesting, but I've also noticed one thing that hasn't been mentioned.

So dear readers, here's my take on why one campaign is still in this race and not watching it from the sidelines.

The single smartest decision made so far in the 2008 campaign: Barack Obama's campaign is run from Chicago and not Washington.

Maybe there's something about the air out here.