Scribe Fire

This is a test of Scribe Fire. I hope it makes blog posting easier and faster.

Isn't there more we can do?

This 53 second video by Bread for the World is fun and fitting



www.bread.org/recipeforhope

Visiting the Palace

Jen and I went to the Palace of Auburn Hills on Saturday to watch Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals. We were in the second to last row of the upper bowl, just behind the end line of the SW corner of the court. We could see everything well. Unfortunately, the Pistons played like they expected the win to come easily and lost miserably. We went with our friends Tammi and Edith and still had a great time.

Pistons Stunned in Game 3
Celtics 94, Pistons 80

The Celtics regained home-court advantage of the Eastern Conference finals Saturday night with their first road playoff win in seven tries. Though from the look of their 14-point victory in Game 3 at The Palace, you'd think they had never left Boston. The Celtics scored the first 11 points of the game, withstood a pair of Detroit runs directed by Rodney Stuckey in the first and fourth quarters and held the Pistons to 80 points. Boston's top ranked defense had been more permeable away from TD Banknorth Garden - allowing 95.3 points entering Saturday - but it clearly had something going for it at The Palace. The Pistons misfired early and often (38 percent FG shooting) and were outrebounded, 44-28

Rodney Stuckey went to work earlier than usual when Billups picked up his second foul in the first quarter. And he had his work cut out for him, already down 15-4. But he sparked 13 unanswered points by driving to the basket and repeatedly drawing contact. He drew a foul for two free throws, had a breakaway that led to two more, and then bullied his way past Cassell to find Maxiell cutting to the basket. Wallace tipped in Maxiell's attempt at the rim, and Detroit had its first lead of the game with Billups on the bench, 17-15. He scored 17 points and was 9-of-10 at the line.

Paul Pierce didn't even shoot the ball after his game-opening dunk. Ray Allen shot like Game 2 never happened, missing five of his first six shots. The "White Out" crowd at The Palace was ready for any reason to explode. But the Pistons could not take advantage in the first half, as the Celtics bench made its mark on the series. Sam Cassell - who had not made a field goal since Game 2 of the Cleveland series (May 8) - delivered five points, including a triple. James Posey - who had five points in games 1 and 2 combined - scored eight points in the first half - or the same as Billups (2), Hamilton (4) and Prince (2) combined. The statistical oddity is not nearly as significant as the confidence it gives to the Celtics' supporting cast heading into Game 4.

SAUNDERS: "In [Game 2] we choked off their role players and tonight their role players really were the ones who really hurt us. Garnett had a huge game and Paul did some steady things but you look at what Perkins did, you look at the guys off the bench. When the score's a close game Cassell comes in and makes a couple big shots to go on a 10-0 run to finish the (second) quarter and they took the game over at that point again."

US Christians urged to cancel church services and help poor

Conducted by Faith in Action and Harris Interactive, the national survey polled more than 2,800 adults. Sixty-seven percent of respondents "agreed" or "strongly agreed" with the statement, "My church already does enough to help the poor in my community." "Faith in Action is designed to be a step toward alleviating the complacency that is afflicting churches across the country, and an effective call to action to follow Christ's example of compassion."

Current data provided by the US Census Bureau reveals the national poverty level has increased from 11.7 percent in 2001 to 13.3 percent in 2005, or 38 million Americans.

Additionally, demand for food stamps between 2007-08, a key economic indicator provided by the United States Department of Agriculture, is up significantly in 43 states, increasing the need for significant help among more than 28 million Americans.

The rest of the story.

The "Surge" of Iraqi Prisoners

Amid all the talk about the U.S. military "surge" in Iraq, little has been said about the accompanying "surge" of Iraqi prisoners, whose numbers rose to nearly 51,000 at the end of 2007. Four years after the Abu Ghraib scandal, occupation forces are holding far more Iraqis than ever before and thousands more languish in horrendous Iraqi-run prisons.

The detention facilities are closed to human rights monitors like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, or the International Federation of Human Rights. Even the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, mandated by the Security Council to provide human rights reporting, is denied access by the U.S. command. Lack of such monitors greatly increases the likelihood that detainees will suffer from abuse and bad conditions, as human rights organizations have often pointed out.

The rest of the story.

Military Man

In 1961, a young African-American man, after hearing President John F. Kennedy's challenge to, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," gave up his student deferment, left college in Virginia and voluntarily joined the Marines.

While this young man was serving six years on active duty, Vice President Dick Cheney, who was born the same year as the Marine/sailor, received five deferments, four for being an undergraduate and graduate student and one for being a prospective father. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both five years younger than the African-American youth, used their student deferments to stay in college until 1968. Both then avoided going on active duty through family connections.

This man is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the retiring pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, who has been in the news for comments he made over the last three decades.

Source: Op-Ed in the Chicago Tribine.

Jersey Boys

Another light one - does Andrew look like anyone in this photo of the Jersey Boys, a musical several friends have seen in Chicago.

Peter Potty

OK, I know it's been a long string of more serious posts. This is something my friend Rus told me about. His son absolutely loves his play urinal called Peter Potty...except that it really works. Like training wheels in the bathroom. If we ever have a son, we are definitely getting one of these.

Obama leads Clinton in superdelegate count

Big news today (May 12): for the first time since this campaign began, Barack Obama has taken the lead among superdelegates.

We've won more elected delegates, more states, and more votes than Senator Clinton. But until yesterday we trailed among Governors, Members of Congress, and Democratic Party leaders -- the so-called "superdelegates" who have a vote in the nominating process.

As it stands, we have 279 superdelegates who have committed to cast their convention votes for us. That includes 21 since last Tuesday's elections, and 3 who switched their support from Senator Clinton.

We have just 152 delegates to go before Barack Obama clinches the nomination.

Green Cleaning Schools Act Goes into Effect this Week in Illinois!

This act makes Illinois the second state in the nation to require schools to use green cleaning products.

How schools are cleaned and the products that are used can significantly affect the health and performance of students, administrators and cleaning staff. Choices in cleaning products, equipment and procedures also affect the lifespan of building materials and furnishings. The Green Clean Schools Act will ensure that Illinois schools are providing healthier and safer environments for students and staff while also preserving the environment.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=184833

Way to go, Chicago!

Petition Brita to Recycle Used Filters

You probably didn't know that Brita, America's #1 water filter, is owned by Clorox. Brita helps its customers feel good about filtering water without buying untold numbers of plastic bottles. Indeed, the Brita filter option is much better than purchasing bottled water. With that said, the U.S. version of the Brita filter is currently designed to be disposable. Hundreds of thousands of plastic Brita filters needlessly flow into U.S. landfills, while in Europe, the same company is providing those cartridges in a recyclable form. As a result, Brita is currently being pressured by consumers and TakeBacktheFilter.org to change its policies. Learn more about how you can send in your used Brita filters to pressure the company to make the green shift: http://www.takebackthefilter.org

Plastic Recycling Codes

Wondering what those codes mean? This handy guide briefly explains what they mean, how environmentally friendly they are, and what the health risks are.

Colbert tells Zimbardo

The Sentencing Project

The way the war on drugs has been pursued is one of the biggest reasons for the growing racial disparities in criminal justice over all.

- Ryan S. King, a policy analyst with The Sentencing Project, which recently released a report describing large disparities in the rate at which blacks and whites are arrested and imprisoned for drug offenses, even though the two groups use illegal drugs at roughly equal rates. (Source: The New York Times)

February Donations

In February alone, more than 94% of Senator Obama's donors gave in amounts of $200 or less. Meanwhile, campaign finance reports show that donations of $200 or less make up just 13% of Senator McCain's total campaign funds, and only 26% of Senator Clinton's.

Senator McCain has raised more than 70% of his total campaign funds from high-dollar donors giving $1,000 or more. Senator Clinton has raised 60% of her funds from $1,000-and-up donors. And both Senator McCain and Senator Clinton have accepted millions of dollars from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs.

Refusing to accept donations from lobbyists and special interests has allowed Senator Obama's campaign to answer only to ordinary Americans like you.

Hillary's Christianity

Jim Wallis thinks she is legit:

I can't count the number of times that reporters have asked me about Hillary's religion, just assuming she must be pandering. One asked, "when was the first time Hilary talked to you about her faith?" I said that it was the first time I met her - after she came to Washington in 1992. The reporter didn't seem to believe me. I explained, as I have to many reporters, how Hillary Clinton was a Methodist youth group kid in Chicago, where her youth pastor took teenagers on "urban plunges" to the inner city and to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak. Her Methodism is apparent in her longtime advocacy for children, as well as other issues. Agree or disagree with her politics, it's clear that Hillary Clinton is a committed Christian laywoman.

Fluoride Action Network

This quick Fluoride Action Network video shows us some of the major concerns of fluoride in drinking water. Check out the warning label on your toothpaste tube. It notes that the amount of fluoride in a single brushing (.25 mg) should not be swallowed, and if so, the label says you should contact a Poison Control Center. Interestingly, that's the same amount that's in an average glass of tap water. Learn more and watch: http://www.fluoridealert.org/

Federal Budget in Cookies

Watch this short entertaining video by our allies at True Majority to see how the federal government is spending our tax money. Tax policies may seem abstract, but not when you visualize them in terms of cookies.

Hillary's Hundred v. Barack's Million (and a half)

A new pro-Hillary Clinton group spent $864,000 making and airing ads in Texas and Ohio in the run-up to her victory in the March 4 primaries. And the group has at least $200,000 in the bank toward an expected air war on her behalf in Pennsylvania and the subsequent states.

American Leadership Project raised a total of $1.2 million – $1 million of which came from AFSCME, which has endorsed Clinton – since Feb. 21, according to a report it filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission.

This article from Politico came to my attention months ago via this Barack Obama email:

News broke yesterday that a few wealthy Clinton supporters are gearing up for a massive spending campaign to boost her chances in the big upcoming contests in Texas and Ohio on March 4th.

The so-called "American Leadership Project" will take unlimited contributions from individuals and is organized the same way as the infamous Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

ABC News reports that this group is seeking 100 Clinton supporters to each give $100,000 to fund its $10 million effort to promote Senator Clinton and "contrast" her positions with Barack Obama's.

Edwards endorses Obama

From Barack Obama:

I have some very exciting news.

My good friend John Edwards is endorsing our campaign and joining our movement for change.

We're here in Grand Rapids, Michigan -- and if you receive this message in time, you can probably turn on your TV and be part of the moment.

I'm deeply honored by John's support. He is a true leader who dedicated his career to improving the lives of ordinary Americans.

John ran a strong, principled campaign for president, focusing on a number of important issues where we share common ground -- universal health care, bringing our troops home from Iraq, and eliminating poverty in America.

The way he ran his campaign was also important. He ran in a way that reflected our shared conviction that we need to fundamentally change politics.

Like our campaign, John's campaign never accepted donations from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs.

All I can say is: It's about time!

Evangelical Manifesto

Not sure what is meant by "Evangelical"? Me neither. Here's a 20 page attempt at it by some names you might recognize: Os Guinness, Rich Mouw, Dallas Willard.

60 Years for the political state of Israel

If I were anybody important, I too would sign with Palmberg, Brueggemann, Mouw, Wallis, McLaren about the Israel-Palestine situation.

The Declaration

We, the undersigned, church leaders and representatives of our different denominations and organisations, join together on the 60th anniversary of the Israeli state to offer a contribution to that which makes for peace.

We recognise that today, millions of Israelis and Jews around the world will joyfully mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel (Yom Ha'atzmaut). For many, this landmark powerfully symbolises the Jewish people’s ability to defy the power of hatred so destructively embodied in the Nazi Holocaust. Additionally, it is an opportunity to celebrate the wealth of cultural, economic and scientific achievements of Israeli society, in all its vitality and diversity.

We also recognise that this same day, millions of Palestinians living inside Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and the worldwide diaspora, will mourn 60 years since over 700,000 of them were uprooted from their homes and forbidden from returning, while more than 400 villages were destroyed (al-Nakba). For them, this day is not just about the remembrance of a past catastrophic dispossession, dispersal, and loss; it is also a reminder that their struggle for self-determination and restitution is ongoing.

To hold both of these responses together in balanced tension is not easy. But it is vital if a peaceful way forward is to be forged, and is central to the Biblical call to “seek peace and pursue it” (Ps. 34:14). We acknowledge with sorrow that for the last 60 years, while extending empathy and support to the Israeli narrative of independence and struggle, many of us in the church worldwide have denied the same solidarity to the Palestinians, deaf to their cries of pain and distress.
To acknowledge and respect these dual histories is not, by itself, sufficient, but does offer a paradigm for building a peaceful future. Many lives have been lost, and there has been much suffering. The weak are exploited by the strong, while fear and bitterness stunt the imagination and cripple the capacity for forgiveness.

We therefore urge all those working for peace and justice in Israel/Palestine to consider that any lasting solution must be built on the foundation of justice, which is rooted in the very character of God. After all, it is justice that “will produce lasting peace and security” (Isaiah 32:17). Let us commit ourselves in prophetic word and practical deed to a courageous settlement whose details will honour both peoples’ shared love for the land, and protect the individual and collective rights of Jews and Palestinians in the Holy Land.

“Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid” (Micah 4:4)

Mike Huckabee on Rev. Jeremiah Wright

I did not see this one coming. I sure do like it.

As easy as it is for those of us who are white to look back and say, "That's a terrible statement," I grew up in a very segregated South, and I think that you have to cut some slack. And I'm going to be probably the only conservative in America who's going to say something like this, but I'm just telling you: We've got to cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told, "You have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie. You have to go to the back door to go into the restaurant. And you can't sit out there with everyone else. There's a separate waiting room in the doctor's office. Here's where you sit on the bus." And you know what? Sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment. And you have to just say, I probably would too. I probably would too. In fact, I may have had ... more of a chip on my shoulder had it been me.

- Mike Huckabee, offering his perspective on the preaching of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. (Source: MSNBC)

Five Minutes of Stillness Remembering Five Years...

On Easter Sunday, four U.S. soldiers were killed in Baghdad, bringing the total to 4,000. Around the country of Iraq, more than 60 people were killed in attacks. The Iraq Body Count database has now documented 90,000 civilian deaths – other estimates go into the hundreds of thousands.

Jim Wallis and Tony Perkins on CNN's Situation Room

Perkins' code word "social conservatives." Prioritizes abortion and gay marriage above other social concerns.

Wallis' code word "evangelicals." Sees poverty, the environment, war and peace, and health care in addition to abortion and gay marriage as the social concerns.

Evangelical Politics: Three Generations

SoundSeen: Video - Three Degrees of Separation

Khakis, blue jeans, and dungarees graced the stage at this public event in San Diego. The generational differences seemed obvious. But this lively conversation revealed a shared theology that guides these three men — as they interpret and live out their values in varying ways.

Krista Tippett (NPR host of Speaking of Faith) has a conversation with Chuck Colson, Greg Boyd and Shane Claiborne as representatives of my grandparents', parents and my generation, respecrively.

View the video here:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/evangelical_politics/soundseen_npc.shtml#slideshow

Jim Wallis and Jimmy Carter

Jim Wallis and Jimmy Carter discuss faith, politics, and race.
From Sojourners. March 19, 2008

A Crude Awakening - Oil Crash

Here's a 10 minute video about our current state of addiction.