If you'd like to cast a vote for your first, second, and third choices for the Democratic candidate for president, go to Democracy for America.
I chose Dennis Kucinich as No. 1, because I agree with almost all of his policies. I know that he doesn't have a chance at the nomination, but I took satisfaction in choosing him in the poll.
There are videos up, in which the candidates talk about what they will do if they become president. Today is the last day to vote.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Thought For The Day
Sometimes it's best to let folks do themselves in with their own intemperate words, instead of piling on them with words upon words that may distract from the original intemperate words.
Of course, I could be wrong.
Of course, I could be wrong.
What Kind Of Liberal Am I?
My Liberal Identity:
You are a Peace Patroller, also known as an anti-war liberal or neo-hippie. You believe in putting an end to American imperial conquest, stopping wars that have already been lost, and supporting our troops by bringing them home.
Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com
Thanks to David Charles Walker at On The Beach for the link to the quiz.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Sen. David Vitter - Again
Thanks to a reminder from Oyster at Your Right Hand Thief, here's link to the latest on David Vitter from the Times-Picayune. The DC Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, has subpoenaed the senator "to testify about his involvement in what prosecutors say was a high-priced prostitution ring".
The subpoena puts Vitter, especially, in an awkward and politically damaging position. The Senate Republican caucus welcomed Vitter back into the fold after his public confession in July, but it remains to be seen how much patience Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will show if Vitter's troubles remain in the news. McConnell acted swiftly to condemn Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, after it became public that he had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges after being arrested in a gay-sex sting in a Minneapolis airport bathroom. Craig has faced intense pressure from his own caucus to resign from the Senate but has refused and has sought to withdraw the guilty plea.
Legal experts say Vitter has little grounds to avoid testifying, noting that the U.S. Supreme Court said former President Bill Clinton had to provide testimony in Paula Jones' civil lawsuit.
In a telephone poll this morning, I had the satisfaction of answering the question about my opinion of Vitter with my choice of "strongly unfavorable". He has spoken at length of "family values", you see, and that strikes me as a tad hypocritical when viewed alongside these other activities.
UPDATE: You may want to have a look at the cartoon at FranIAm's place.
The subpoena puts Vitter, especially, in an awkward and politically damaging position. The Senate Republican caucus welcomed Vitter back into the fold after his public confession in July, but it remains to be seen how much patience Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will show if Vitter's troubles remain in the news. McConnell acted swiftly to condemn Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, after it became public that he had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges after being arrested in a gay-sex sting in a Minneapolis airport bathroom. Craig has faced intense pressure from his own caucus to resign from the Senate but has refused and has sought to withdraw the guilty plea.
Legal experts say Vitter has little grounds to avoid testifying, noting that the U.S. Supreme Court said former President Bill Clinton had to provide testimony in Paula Jones' civil lawsuit.
In a telephone poll this morning, I had the satisfaction of answering the question about my opinion of Vitter with my choice of "strongly unfavorable". He has spoken at length of "family values", you see, and that strikes me as a tad hypocritical when viewed alongside these other activities.
UPDATE: You may want to have a look at the cartoon at FranIAm's place.
Feast Day Of Richard Hooker
From James Kiefer at the Lectionary:
On any list of great English theologians, the name of Richard Hooker would appear at or near the top. His masterpiece is "The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity". Its philosophical base is Aristotelian, with a strong emphasis on natural law eternally planted by God in creation. On this foundation, all positive laws of Church and State are developed from Scriptural revelation, ancient tradition, reason, and experience.
The occasion of his writing was the demand of English Puritans for a reformation of Church government. Calvin had established in Geneva a system whereby each congregation was ruled by a commission comprising two thirds laymen elected annually by the congregation and one third clergy serving for life. The English Puritans (by arguments more curious than convincing) held that no church not so governed could claim to be Christian.
Upon the recommendation of Tobias Haller at In A Godward Direction, I began reading a collection of excerpts from the title mentioned above. It's not easy reading, but the language is beautiful. I find that if I read aloud, I understand more. His sentences are sometimes long and convoluted, and I also notice that I retain only the vaguest notion of what I'm reading, even when I do understand the words.
When I met Tobias in New York, I told him that I was reading Hooker, and, only half-jokingly, that I needed the CliffsNotes to help me understand his work. Tobias recommended a name of an author who might be helpful, but I did not write it down, and now it's gone. I'll have to get back with him on that.
Another challenge in reading Hooker is that, in his time, the traditionalists, like Hooker, were fairly open-minded, and those whose views he was arguing against were the Puritans, who were doing the new thing and took a narrower view of who could be part of the Kingdom of God. For me it requires a Screwtape sort of mind-bending to keep that straight. It's slow-going, and I'm reading other materials in between my attempts to understand and absorb Hooker.
James Kiefer recommends reading Hooker's sermon, "A Learned discourse of Justification" as the best of his shorter works. This link gives online access to the sermon.
READINGS:
Psalm 37:3-6,32-33 or 19:7-11(12-14)
1 Corinthians 2:6-10,13-16
John 17:18-23
PRAYER
O God of truth and peace, who raised up your servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
On any list of great English theologians, the name of Richard Hooker would appear at or near the top. His masterpiece is "The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity". Its philosophical base is Aristotelian, with a strong emphasis on natural law eternally planted by God in creation. On this foundation, all positive laws of Church and State are developed from Scriptural revelation, ancient tradition, reason, and experience.
The occasion of his writing was the demand of English Puritans for a reformation of Church government. Calvin had established in Geneva a system whereby each congregation was ruled by a commission comprising two thirds laymen elected annually by the congregation and one third clergy serving for life. The English Puritans (by arguments more curious than convincing) held that no church not so governed could claim to be Christian.
Upon the recommendation of Tobias Haller at In A Godward Direction, I began reading a collection of excerpts from the title mentioned above. It's not easy reading, but the language is beautiful. I find that if I read aloud, I understand more. His sentences are sometimes long and convoluted, and I also notice that I retain only the vaguest notion of what I'm reading, even when I do understand the words.
When I met Tobias in New York, I told him that I was reading Hooker, and, only half-jokingly, that I needed the CliffsNotes to help me understand his work. Tobias recommended a name of an author who might be helpful, but I did not write it down, and now it's gone. I'll have to get back with him on that.
Another challenge in reading Hooker is that, in his time, the traditionalists, like Hooker, were fairly open-minded, and those whose views he was arguing against were the Puritans, who were doing the new thing and took a narrower view of who could be part of the Kingdom of God. For me it requires a Screwtape sort of mind-bending to keep that straight. It's slow-going, and I'm reading other materials in between my attempts to understand and absorb Hooker.
James Kiefer recommends reading Hooker's sermon, "A Learned discourse of Justification" as the best of his shorter works. This link gives online access to the sermon.
READINGS:
Psalm 37:3-6,32-33 or 19:7-11(12-14)
1 Corinthians 2:6-10,13-16
John 17:18-23
PRAYER
O God of truth and peace, who raised up your servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Bishop Duncan Says, "No," To Bishop Katharine
From Episcopal Life:
Episcopal News Service] On the eve of the November 2-3 annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, Bishop Robert Duncan rejected Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's request that he lead the diocese away from efforts to disaffiliate from the Episcopal Church.
The three-sentence letter, dated November 1, said in full: "Here I stand. I can do no other. I will neither compromise the Faith once delivered to the saints, nor will I abandon the sheep who elected me to protect them."
Bishop Duncan's response is short, but not so sweet, referencing Martin Luther's "Diet of Worms" speech. Well, I suppose they'll be heading out of the Episcopal Church to greener pastures. The question is when?
Bishop Duncan says that if the two constitutional amendments pass, this will change nothing for a year, until the amendments are ratified at the next diocesan convention. According to the bishop, the move is a "warning", an "intention", a "possibility" until 2008. But could the action of the first vote be seen as a violation of the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church? I will leave the answer to that question to those who know more than I.
UPDATE: Fr. Jake sheds more light on the question:
He [Duncan] is correct; this changes nothing. But, it does place the Diocese of Pittsburgh in a rather strange transitional state in which they are still part of the Episcopal Church, but not fully. And since their connection to the Anglican Communion is through the Episcopal Church, they are also caught in an inbetween place in regards to their status within the Communion. They have chosen what might best be decribed as "Anglican Limbo," at least until next year.
Read the whole of Fr. Jakes post.
UPDATE 2: Clumber at Barkings Of An Old Dog has a couple of pictures that are worth at least two thousand words, here and here. Check them out.
Episcopal News Service] On the eve of the November 2-3 annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, Bishop Robert Duncan rejected Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's request that he lead the diocese away from efforts to disaffiliate from the Episcopal Church.
The three-sentence letter, dated November 1, said in full: "Here I stand. I can do no other. I will neither compromise the Faith once delivered to the saints, nor will I abandon the sheep who elected me to protect them."
Bishop Duncan's response is short, but not so sweet, referencing Martin Luther's "Diet of Worms" speech. Well, I suppose they'll be heading out of the Episcopal Church to greener pastures. The question is when?
Bishop Duncan says that if the two constitutional amendments pass, this will change nothing for a year, until the amendments are ratified at the next diocesan convention. According to the bishop, the move is a "warning", an "intention", a "possibility" until 2008. But could the action of the first vote be seen as a violation of the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church? I will leave the answer to that question to those who know more than I.
UPDATE: Fr. Jake sheds more light on the question:
He [Duncan] is correct; this changes nothing. But, it does place the Diocese of Pittsburgh in a rather strange transitional state in which they are still part of the Episcopal Church, but not fully. And since their connection to the Anglican Communion is through the Episcopal Church, they are also caught in an inbetween place in regards to their status within the Communion. They have chosen what might best be decribed as "Anglican Limbo," at least until next year.
Read the whole of Fr. Jakes post.
UPDATE 2: Clumber at Barkings Of An Old Dog has a couple of pictures that are worth at least two thousand words, here and here. Check them out.
Lord Have Mercy!
From the New York Times:
Requiem for the Last American Soldier to Die in Iraq
By Brian Turner
At some point in the future, soldiers will pack up their rucks, equipment will be loaded into huge shipping containers, C-130s will rise wheels-up off the tarmac, and Navy transport ships will cross the high seas to return home once again. At some point — the timing of which I don’t have the slightest guess at — the war in Iraq will end. And I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately — I’ve been thinking about the last American soldier to die in Iraq.
....
Who can say where that last soldier is now, at this very moment? Kettlemen City. Turlock. Wichita. Fredricksburg. Omaha. Duluth. She may be in the truck idling beside us in traffic as we wait for the light to turn green. He may be ordering a slice of key lime pie at Denny’s, sitting at a booth with his friends after bowling all night. What name waits to be etched on a stone not yet erected in America? Somewhere out in the vast stretches of our country, somewhere out in Whitman’s America, out among the wide expanse of grasses, somewhere here among us the last soldier may lie dreaming in bed before the dawn as the sun sets over Iraq.
I often think about this, too. I think about the numbers of wounded and dead, "Coalition" and Iraqi, the numbers driven from their homes, taking their places as mostly unwanted refugees. How many more before the madness comes to an end?
What will the name be? Anthony. Lynette. Fernando. Paula. Joshua. Letitia. Roger… Who will carve it in stone and who will leave flowers there as the years pass by? Who will remember this soldier and what will those memories be? Does he have brothers and sisters? Will his father sink into the grass in the backyard when he is told the news? Will his mother stare into the street with eyes gone hollow and vacant, the cars passing each day with their polished enamel reflecting the sunlight? What will the officer say when he knocks on that door?
Brian Turner has served in Iraq. He has learned from his time spent there.
When will the rest of us ever learn? When will we ever learn?
Requiem for the Last American Soldier to Die in Iraq
By Brian Turner
At some point in the future, soldiers will pack up their rucks, equipment will be loaded into huge shipping containers, C-130s will rise wheels-up off the tarmac, and Navy transport ships will cross the high seas to return home once again. At some point — the timing of which I don’t have the slightest guess at — the war in Iraq will end. And I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately — I’ve been thinking about the last American soldier to die in Iraq.
....
Who can say where that last soldier is now, at this very moment? Kettlemen City. Turlock. Wichita. Fredricksburg. Omaha. Duluth. She may be in the truck idling beside us in traffic as we wait for the light to turn green. He may be ordering a slice of key lime pie at Denny’s, sitting at a booth with his friends after bowling all night. What name waits to be etched on a stone not yet erected in America? Somewhere out in the vast stretches of our country, somewhere out in Whitman’s America, out among the wide expanse of grasses, somewhere here among us the last soldier may lie dreaming in bed before the dawn as the sun sets over Iraq.
I often think about this, too. I think about the numbers of wounded and dead, "Coalition" and Iraqi, the numbers driven from their homes, taking their places as mostly unwanted refugees. How many more before the madness comes to an end?
What will the name be? Anthony. Lynette. Fernando. Paula. Joshua. Letitia. Roger… Who will carve it in stone and who will leave flowers there as the years pass by? Who will remember this soldier and what will those memories be? Does he have brothers and sisters? Will his father sink into the grass in the backyard when he is told the news? Will his mother stare into the street with eyes gone hollow and vacant, the cars passing each day with their polished enamel reflecting the sunlight? What will the officer say when he knocks on that door?
Brian Turner has served in Iraq. He has learned from his time spent there.
When will the rest of us ever learn? When will we ever learn?
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Deptartment of Injustice
Dennis at Psychology, Dogs, Politics and Wine has asked bloggers to link to this story of a miscarriage of justice and a subsequent attempt to cover up mistakes by the FBI, using national security as an excuse, as described at Psychosound.
As I told Dennis in his comments, I think that most folks in the US won't care about this sort of thing, because they think that it could not happen to them, but that's not necessarily so under the Bush maladministration's Dept. of Injustice. Besides, this is so very wrong.
Dennis is correct to say that we can do our small part to shine light on at least some of the dark deeds taking place under our present leadership.
As I told Dennis in his comments, I think that most folks in the US won't care about this sort of thing, because they think that it could not happen to them, but that's not necessarily so under the Bush maladministration's Dept. of Injustice. Besides, this is so very wrong.
Dennis is correct to say that we can do our small part to shine light on at least some of the dark deeds taking place under our present leadership.
No Trash Pickup For You!
From the Times-Picayune:
The mound of rotted drywall and moldy planks piled recently outside the wrecked house in Algiers looked more or less identical to the countless heaps that have littered the New Orleans landscape since Hurricane Katrina.
But as volunteers with the Episcopal Diocese's disaster response team soon learned, this batch of gutted debris bore one important difference: Unlike the piles they had tirelessly deposited on curbsides across town during the past two years, a trash crew would not be coming to pick up this one.
The heap festered for days as complaints rolled in from neighbors, including a mom who said her toddler had tried to jump into the garbage, said Katie Mears, director of the church's recovery office.
The diocese ended up paying $600 to have the pile hauled away, a considerable sum for a charity whose work also includes rehabbing houses.
"It comes out of rebuild money, which is what's terrible about it," Mears said. "It's what we would be using to buy Sheetrock and paint."
Because of wrangling over contract clauses between the the city officials and waste disposal companies, folks who gut their ruined houses will have to haul their own trash away, or pay to have it done. The piles are taller than people, sometimes as tall as the houses, and they stretch from one end of the property to the other. They are filled with dangerous materials.
In signing the deals last year, Mayor Ray Nagin vowed that the steeper cost was worth the improved services to usher in a new era of cleanliness along New Orleans' notoriously litter-strewn streets.
But city officials in recent weeks admit they are not requiring the vendors to collect curbside debris discarded from gutting and rebuilding projects, debris that would seem to meet the broad definition outlined in their contracts.
Instead, they're holding the companies to more lenient standards spelled out in the city building code and in an ordinance adopted in April -- five months after the deals were signed -- that saddle residents with the responsibility of hauling away all but the most trivial amounts of construction waste.
I have said repeatedly that every level of government failed the people of New Orleans from the beginning, and that's still true. Whatever progress the city makes in recovering will be mainly due to the efforts of the citizens and volunteers.
I don't understand how the people of New Orleans voted to reelect Ray Nagin, who had already proved himself incompetent. What were they thinking? Maybe now they know better, but it's too late.
You can read the whole sorry tale of the city officials and the companies booting responsibility back and forth with the end result that no one is responsible, and the citizens must do it themselves. Sad.
The mound of rotted drywall and moldy planks piled recently outside the wrecked house in Algiers looked more or less identical to the countless heaps that have littered the New Orleans landscape since Hurricane Katrina.
But as volunteers with the Episcopal Diocese's disaster response team soon learned, this batch of gutted debris bore one important difference: Unlike the piles they had tirelessly deposited on curbsides across town during the past two years, a trash crew would not be coming to pick up this one.
The heap festered for days as complaints rolled in from neighbors, including a mom who said her toddler had tried to jump into the garbage, said Katie Mears, director of the church's recovery office.
The diocese ended up paying $600 to have the pile hauled away, a considerable sum for a charity whose work also includes rehabbing houses.
"It comes out of rebuild money, which is what's terrible about it," Mears said. "It's what we would be using to buy Sheetrock and paint."
Because of wrangling over contract clauses between the the city officials and waste disposal companies, folks who gut their ruined houses will have to haul their own trash away, or pay to have it done. The piles are taller than people, sometimes as tall as the houses, and they stretch from one end of the property to the other. They are filled with dangerous materials.
In signing the deals last year, Mayor Ray Nagin vowed that the steeper cost was worth the improved services to usher in a new era of cleanliness along New Orleans' notoriously litter-strewn streets.
But city officials in recent weeks admit they are not requiring the vendors to collect curbside debris discarded from gutting and rebuilding projects, debris that would seem to meet the broad definition outlined in their contracts.
Instead, they're holding the companies to more lenient standards spelled out in the city building code and in an ordinance adopted in April -- five months after the deals were signed -- that saddle residents with the responsibility of hauling away all but the most trivial amounts of construction waste.
I have said repeatedly that every level of government failed the people of New Orleans from the beginning, and that's still true. Whatever progress the city makes in recovering will be mainly due to the efforts of the citizens and volunteers.
I don't understand how the people of New Orleans voted to reelect Ray Nagin, who had already proved himself incompetent. What were they thinking? Maybe now they know better, but it's too late.
You can read the whole sorry tale of the city officials and the companies booting responsibility back and forth with the end result that no one is responsible, and the citizens must do it themselves. Sad.
Feast Of All Saints
The Burial of the Count of Orgaz - El Greco, 1586-1588 - oil on canvas Santo Tomé, Toledo, Spain.
Image from Wiki.
The Carmina Gadelica
The holy Apostles’ guarding,
The gentle martyrs’ guarding,
The nine angels’ guarding,
Be cherishing me, be aiding me.
The quiet Brigit’s guarding,
The gentle Mary’s guarding,
The warrior Michael’s guarding,
Be shielding me, be aiding me.
The God the elements’ guarding,
The loving Christ’s guarding,
The Holy Spirit’s guarding,
Be cherishing me, be aiding me.
From Christ Episcopal Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa:
READINGS:
Eucharistic:
Psalm 149;
Ecclesiasticus 44:1-10,13-14; Revelation 7:2-4,9-17; Matthew 5:1-12
Daily Office:
AM: Psalm 111, 112; 2 Esdras 2:42-47; Hebrews 11:32-10:2
PM: Psalm 148, 150; Wisdom 5:1-5, 14-16; Revelation 21:1-4, 22-22:
PRAYER
O Almighty God, who have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those indescribable joys which you have prepared for those who truly love you: through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting.
James Kiefer at the Lectionary has the full reading from "Ecclesiasticus" which begins:
Let us now praise famous men,
and our fathers in their generations.
The LORD apportioned to them great glory,
his majesty from the beginning.
And then, ending with these words:
There are some of them who have left a name,
so that men declare their praise.
And there are some who have no memorial,
who have perished as though they had not lived;
they have become as though they had not been born,
and so have their children after them.
But these were men of mercy,
whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten.
Their posterity will continue for ever,
and their glory will not be blotted out.
Their bodies were buried in peace,
and their name lives to all generations.
Thanks be to God.
Kiefer includes the full text of "A Litany of All the Saints".
Viewing the painting itself must be an extraordinary experience. Wiki's article on the work seems quite good, and the story behind the painting is there, too. The link above takes you to it.
A Greek-turned-Spanish painter, a Gaelic prayer, the Bible, and prayers from services of the Episcopal Church are quite a mix in one post, but they're my offering to celebrate the feast day.
UPDATE: Of course, Padre Mickey has a beautiful post on the feast day, too.
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