Sunday, June 23, 2013
Discernment
Reading “The Wounded Healer” by Henri Nouwen, I came across something that struck me spiritually. On page forty he brings to mind that “liturgy is much more than a ritual”. I cannot express how true that is to me personally. During the Eucharist I feel the Spirit move through me. I have a great need to share this immense feeling of great joy and peace. To share my experience of the Holy Spirit with others is my greatest joy. Having the ability to celebrate the Eucharist is something that over the last couple years has been burning in my soul. I have prayed in personal discernment to determine exactly what I feel is my calling in this direction. Many friends and family have expressed that I would make good Priest.
I have been very disturbed these last couple weeks that in my personal discernment process, my diocesan leaders feel that I am not ready and that I need a couple more years in leadership development before actively becoming a candidate in the discernment process. I have prayed a lot in these past couple weeks and have made a determination that I cannot continue in this process. There are some issues that I need to convey in my thinking on this matter. This decision has not come lightly to me and I wish to put these out there. I sincerely want your feedback on these items and pray for you to discern with me as well on my decision.
In a couple years I will be right at the cusp of 60 years old. I will still be working my current position that entails 45 – 60 hours each week to put bread on my family’s table. In order to show leadership in my community/congregation I will need to begin and conduct ongoing ministries that will take up additional hours of my time and energies. After a couple years of this, and if I get accepted into the discernment process proper, I will have to attend the Bishop’s School which will include online and classroom training in theology. I am not sure how many hours each week this will entail but it will be in addition to the 50 hours each week and my day job and probably 10 hours or so in my ministry work. The Bishop’s School will consume three additional years in which I will be reading, studying, praying, etc. At the end of this journey I will easily be pushing 65. I cannot begin to guess the physical and mental toll this will place on me as well as my family. My wife has been great through this process I have been in so far and I cannot put her through another five to six years. In addition to this, there is no guarantee that once I go through this half decade of discernment and study that I will even be ordained.
The hardest part of this writing is that I have resigned myself to the fact that I will never celebrate the Eucharist. I serve as a Lay Eucharistic Minister at my current church and that is the closest I will come to what I feel so passionate about. There are many in my Cursillo group that were very disappointed when I told them of the diocesan position as well as my own decision to personally remove myself from further consideration. There are many in my last congregation who were pulling for me knowing who I am and the passion I have for serving Christ. Living in Christ with them for 8 years I grew so much during that time. They will be sad at this news as well. I can only say to those who have prayed for me during this time that the people making the decisions regarding my entering the process must know me much better that my friends and church family. I sound very bitter but I am praying for that to eventually go away.
I must interject something here that has me the most upset about this entire process within the diocese. The chair of the Commission on Ordained Ministries had a discussion with my priest regarding my needing more leadership experience. She also expressed that she needed to speak with me. My priest spoke with my wife, regarding this decision as he felt she would be better able to tell me this decision than he could. I looked at my priest as a leader for me spiritually. Two weeks later, neither my priest not the chair of the Commission on Ordained Ministries has had a conversation with me. There are obviously some pastoral care issues that need to be worked on with “leaders” in the diocese. The people I looked to for guidance, are the ones that I feel have let me down the most.
I request everyone to continue to pray for me and Sandy as we continue to lend ourselves to grow in the body of Christ. We will continue to be leaders and examples of Christ in our lives as well as in our community. Thank you to everyone who has believed in me and prayed for me during the last couple years. God blesses you all, always.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Monday, June 20, 2011
For Profit colleges may face tighter rules
Redlands Daily Facts 06/20/2011, Page A06
For-profit colleges may face tighter rules
tighterfederaloversight may see For-profitcolleges
By ANDREW EDWARDS
Staff Writer
The federal government is moving toward tougher regulations of for-profit colleges, an industry that has greatly expanded its presence within the Inland Empire during the past few years.
The Department of Education’s new, and still controversial, “gainful employment” rule announced this month requires graduates of for-profit career colleges to meet certain loan payment standards to gain access to federal financial aid.
The government’s thresholds are aimed at ensuring for-profit schools and their students are channeling federal aid toward lucrative careers.
But the rule could cause profits to decline at for-profit schools, which count on federal financial aid dollars for up to 90 percent of their revenues.
Career colleges and critics also decry the rule as a regulation that will limit students’ access to job training.
However the rule’s consequences play out over time, the Education Department’s action is sure to affect an industry that has grown quickly even in the economic downturn.
In the Inland Empire, the expansion of for-profit schools has breathed some life into an otherwise struggling office scene.
“Within the last 10 months over 100,000 square feet have been leased to schools in this market (Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga),” said Carol D. Plowman, a senior vice president of commercial real estate firm Lee & Associates’ office in Ontario.
A number of career college representatives said they were not yet prepared to comment on how the U.S. Department of Education’s “gainful employment” rule may affect their business practices.
“The best I can tell you is we’re still reviewing the information and how it may affect our students,” University of Phoenix spokesman Rick Castellano said Thursday.
In a statement issued June 8, Penny Lee, managing director of the pro-career college group Coalition for Educational Success, defended for-profit schools’ roles among institutions of higher education.
“While there is no single right answer on how to train workers for tomorrow’s jobs, career colleges offer access and choice to millions of students who otherwise would not have a pathway to a higher education or a career,” Lee stated.
From a job recruiter’s perspective, a traditional university degree is generally more valuable than one from a career college, although courses taken at career colleges can have value, said Sarah Cullins, president of Rancho Cucamonga-based Finesse Staffing.
“I think some of the good things about these schools is that if you’re already employed, they can help you in the career where you’re at,” Cullins said.
For-profit schools are where 12 percent of the nation’s college students take classes, according to the Education Department.
Students at for-profit institutions have taken out 26 percent of the nation’s student loans, but owe 46 percent of the student loan dollars in default.
The “gainful employment” rule would tie for-profit students’ loan payments and balances to career colleges’ abilities to receive federal aid.
The rule requires the schools to meet one of three standards: at least 35 percent of former students are repaying the loans, the estimated annual loan payment of a “typical graduate” does not exceed 30 percent of his or her discretionary income, or the estimated annual loan payment of a typical graduate does not exceed 12 percent of one’s total earnings.
andrew.edwards@inlandnewspapers.com, 909-483-8550
Copyright © 2011 Redlands Daily Facts 06/20/2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
This Senior Nailed It
Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming, Co-Chair of Obama's deficit
commission, calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he
compared "Social Security" to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats.
August, 2010.
Here's a response in a letter from an unknown fellow in Montana...
I think he is a little ticked off! He also tells it like it is !
----------------------------------------------------
"Hey Alan, let's get a few things straight..
1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole for FIFTY
YEARS.
2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15
years old. I am now 63).
3 My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other
Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for
decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give
OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus
bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme
that would have made Bernie Madoff proud.
4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the
proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing
retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to
age 67. NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move the
goalposts YET AGAIN.
5 I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare
from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the
game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy
to such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay
the bills.
6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes
our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why?
Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that
you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come
to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.
To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bullshit" on
your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for
YOU.
1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during
your pathetic 50-year political career?
2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and
how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the
American taxpayers?
3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?
4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you
proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual,
have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?
It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators called
Congress who are the "greedy" ones. It is you and your fellow
nutcases who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream
from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for what? Votes.
That's right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole
purpose of advancing your pathetic political careers. You know it, we
know it, and you know that we know it.
===================================================
Be aware that some of these statements may not be 100% true. Refer to http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/simpson.asp for more clarity.
Thank you.
commission, calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he
compared "Social Security" to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats.
August, 2010.
Here's a response in a letter from an unknown fellow in Montana...
I think he is a little ticked off! He also tells it like it is !
----------------------------------------------------
"Hey Alan, let's get a few things straight..
1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole for FIFTY
YEARS.
2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15
years old. I am now 63).
3 My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other
Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for
decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give
OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus
bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme
that would have made Bernie Madoff proud.
4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the
proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing
retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to
age 67. NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move the
goalposts YET AGAIN.
5 I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare
from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the
game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy
to such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay
the bills.
6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes
our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why?
Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that
you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come
to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.
To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bullshit" on
your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for
YOU.
1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during
your pathetic 50-year political career?
2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and
how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the
American taxpayers?
3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?
4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you
proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual,
have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?
It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators called
Congress who are the "greedy" ones. It is you and your fellow
nutcases who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream
from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for what? Votes.
That's right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole
purpose of advancing your pathetic political careers. You know it, we
know it, and you know that we know it.
===================================================
Be aware that some of these statements may not be 100% true. Refer to http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/simpson.asp for more clarity.
Thank you.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
How in the world did we ever survive???
"Good night and God bless."
Black and White (Under age 40? You won't understand.)
You could hardly see for all the snow,
Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go.
Pull a chair up to the TV set,
'Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet.'
My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to get food poisoning.
My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter and I used to eat it raw sometimes, too. Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a brown paper bag, not in ice pack coolers, but I can't remember getting e..coli.
Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead of a pristine pool full of chemicals (talk about boring), no beach closures then.
The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail cell, and a pager was the school PA system.
We all took gym, not PE...and risked permanent injury with a pair of high top Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors. I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are now.
Flunking gym was not an option... even for stupid kids! I guess PE must be much harder than gym.
Speaking of school, we all said prayers and sang the national anthem, and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention.
We must have had horribly damaged psyches. What an archaic health system we had then. Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything.
I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be proud of myself.
I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play Station, Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations. We had to use our brain then.
Oh yeah... and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I got that bee sting? I could have been killed!
We played 'king of the hill' on piles of gravel left on vacant construction sites, and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48-cent bottle of mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like iodine did) and then we got our butt spanked.
Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a $49 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat.
We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either; because if we did we got our butt spanked there and then we got our butt spanked again when we got home.
I recall Donny Reynolds from next door coming over and doing his tricks on the front stoop, just before he fell off. Little did his Mom know that he could have owned our house. Instead, she picked him up and swatted him for being such a goof. It was a neighborhood run amuck.
To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a dysfunctional family.
How could we possibly have known that?
We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills, that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac!
How did we ever survive?
LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA; AND TO ALL WHO DIDN'T, SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED. I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING!
Black and White (Under age 40? You won't understand.)
You could hardly see for all the snow,
Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go.
Pull a chair up to the TV set,
'Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet.'
My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to get food poisoning.
My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter and I used to eat it raw sometimes, too. Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a brown paper bag, not in ice pack coolers, but I can't remember getting e..coli.
Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead of a pristine pool full of chemicals (talk about boring), no beach closures then.
The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail cell, and a pager was the school PA system.
We all took gym, not PE...and risked permanent injury with a pair of high top Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors. I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are now.
Flunking gym was not an option... even for stupid kids! I guess PE must be much harder than gym.
Speaking of school, we all said prayers and sang the national anthem, and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention.
We must have had horribly damaged psyches. What an archaic health system we had then. Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything.
I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be proud of myself.
I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play Station, Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations. We had to use our brain then.
Oh yeah... and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I got that bee sting? I could have been killed!
We played 'king of the hill' on piles of gravel left on vacant construction sites, and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48-cent bottle of mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like iodine did) and then we got our butt spanked.
Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a $49 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat.
We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either; because if we did we got our butt spanked there and then we got our butt spanked again when we got home.
I recall Donny Reynolds from next door coming over and doing his tricks on the front stoop, just before he fell off. Little did his Mom know that he could have owned our house. Instead, she picked him up and swatted him for being such a goof. It was a neighborhood run amuck.
To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a dysfunctional family.
How could we possibly have known that?
We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills, that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac!
How did we ever survive?
LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA; AND TO ALL WHO DIDN'T, SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED. I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Wal-Mart vs the Morons
Snopes has verified this as "mostly correct"
http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/bigwalmart.asp
1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart every hour of every day.
2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!
3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) than
Target sells all year. (This is not true)
4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined.
5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people, is the world's largest private employer,
And most speak English.
6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world.
7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger and Safeway combined, and keep in
Mind they did this in only fifteen years.
8. During this same period, 31 big supermarket chains sought bankruptcy.
9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.
10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super Centers;
This is 1,000 more than it had five years ago.
11. This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at Wal-Mart stores.
(Earth's population is approximately 6.5 Billion.)
12. 90% of all Americans live within fifteen miles of a Wal-Mart.
You may think that I am complaining, but I am really laying the ground work for suggesting that MAYBE we should hire the guys who run Wal-Mart to fix the economy. This should be Read and understood by all Americans Democrats, Republicans, EVERYONE!!
To the President and all 535 voting members of the Legislature, both parties. It is now official . . . You are ALL corrupt morons.
a. The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775. You have had 234 years to get it right and it is broke.
b. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to get it right and it is broke.
c. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it right and it is broke.
d. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it right. $1 trillion of our Money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and they only want more.
e. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44 years to get it right and they are broke.
f. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get it right and it is broke.
g. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more Oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get it right and
It is an abysmal failure.
You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our throats while Overspending our tax dollars.
AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN
HEALTH CARE SYSTEM ?? YOU THINK YOU CAN RUN THE AUTO INDUSTRY.... THE BANKING
SYSTEM?????
MAYBE WE OUGHT TO KICK YOUR EGG-HEAD BUDDY BUMS OUT OF OFFICE AND HIRE
WAL MART TO RUN THE GOVERNMENT ???
WAL MART SEEMS TO KNOW HOW TO RUN A BUSINESS.......WHY DON'T YOU GUYS
JUST ADMIT IT'S WAY BEYOND YOUR PAY GRADE AND QUIT?
Folks, keep this circulating. It is very well stated. Maybe it will end up in the e-mails of some of our "duly elected' (they never read anything) and their staff will clue them in on how Americans feel.
Republican/Democrat- There is no honor amongst thieves. TB "You can't fix stupid, but you can vote it OUT."
http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/bigwalmart.asp
1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart every hour of every day.
2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!
3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) than
Target sells all year. (This is not true)
4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined.
5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people, is the world's largest private employer,
And most speak English.
6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world.
7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger and Safeway combined, and keep in
Mind they did this in only fifteen years.
8. During this same period, 31 big supermarket chains sought bankruptcy.
9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.
10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super Centers;
This is 1,000 more than it had five years ago.
11. This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at Wal-Mart stores.
(Earth's population is approximately 6.5 Billion.)
12. 90% of all Americans live within fifteen miles of a Wal-Mart.
You may think that I am complaining, but I am really laying the ground work for suggesting that MAYBE we should hire the guys who run Wal-Mart to fix the economy. This should be Read and understood by all Americans Democrats, Republicans, EVERYONE!!
To the President and all 535 voting members of the Legislature, both parties. It is now official . . . You are ALL corrupt morons.
a. The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775. You have had 234 years to get it right and it is broke.
b. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to get it right and it is broke.
c. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it right and it is broke.
d. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it right. $1 trillion of our Money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and they only want more.
e. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44 years to get it right and they are broke.
f. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get it right and it is broke.
g. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more Oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get it right and
It is an abysmal failure.
You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our throats while Overspending our tax dollars.
AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN
HEALTH CARE SYSTEM ?? YOU THINK YOU CAN RUN THE AUTO INDUSTRY.... THE BANKING
SYSTEM?????
MAYBE WE OUGHT TO KICK YOUR EGG-HEAD BUDDY BUMS OUT OF OFFICE AND HIRE
WAL MART TO RUN THE GOVERNMENT ???
WAL MART SEEMS TO KNOW HOW TO RUN A BUSINESS.......WHY DON'T YOU GUYS
JUST ADMIT IT'S WAY BEYOND YOUR PAY GRADE AND QUIT?
Folks, keep this circulating. It is very well stated. Maybe it will end up in the e-mails of some of our "duly elected' (they never read anything) and their staff will clue them in on how Americans feel.
Republican/Democrat- There is no honor amongst thieves. TB "You can't fix stupid, but you can vote it OUT."
Monday, December 20, 2010
House Democrats Introduce A Bill To Help “99ers” - Atlantic City Liberal | Examiner.com
House Democrats Introduce A Bill To Help “99ers” - Atlantic City Liberal | Examiner.com: "The '99ers' are people who have exhausted the full 99 weeks of unemployment benefits without being able to find work. These are hard-working Americans who had jobs prior to the financial meltdown caused by the rapacious greed of the wealthiest and most powerful in the country. Right now there are roughly five unemployed workers for every available job. That means that for 80% of the unemployed there simply are no jobs available no matter how hard they try.
In the Atlantic City-Hammonton metropolitcan area the '99er' problem is even worse. The unemployment rate in Atlantic City is 11.5%, nearly 2 full points higher than the national unemployment rate of 9.8% The Obama-McConnell tax cut raw deal does nothing for 99ers who have lost their last lifeline, through no fault of their own.
To remedy this unacceptable situation, House Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee (pictured) (Calif.) and Bobby Scott (Va.) introduced legislation Friday that would provide additional assistance to “99ers”, to which I say, about damn time. The legislation would add 14 weeks of benefits to the first “tier” of Emergency Unemployment Compensation, one of two programs that together give the unemployed up to 73 weeks of federally-funded benefits for workers who exhaust 26 weeks of state benefits. The full 73 weeks are available in states with unemployment above 8.5 percent.
With the Republicans about to take over the House in January, the expectation among the political punditry is that this bill will stall indefinitely. The excuse that Republicans give in opposition to helping the 99ers is that they are against more deficit spending, which is really just their excuse to be cold and heartless. Their desire for fiscal restraint certainly did not stop them from joining hands with President Obama to add hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy to the deficit. But on this issue I think the Republicans are playing with fire and will break eventually.
According to Republican Fed Chairmen Ben Bernanke, it will take 4-5 years for the country to reach a normal level of unemployment again, without factoring the possibility of a double-dip. That is a long time to leave millions of suffering voters high and dry. Republicans may not have compassion, but they do have a strong sense of self-preservation. At some point voter anger will reach a tipping point where the Republicans will have to buckle. But maybe I am just being hopeful?
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
In the Atlantic City-Hammonton metropolitcan area the '99er' problem is even worse. The unemployment rate in Atlantic City is 11.5%, nearly 2 full points higher than the national unemployment rate of 9.8% The Obama-McConnell tax cut raw deal does nothing for 99ers who have lost their last lifeline, through no fault of their own.
To remedy this unacceptable situation, House Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee (pictured) (Calif.) and Bobby Scott (Va.) introduced legislation Friday that would provide additional assistance to “99ers”, to which I say, about damn time. The legislation would add 14 weeks of benefits to the first “tier” of Emergency Unemployment Compensation, one of two programs that together give the unemployed up to 73 weeks of federally-funded benefits for workers who exhaust 26 weeks of state benefits. The full 73 weeks are available in states with unemployment above 8.5 percent.
With the Republicans about to take over the House in January, the expectation among the political punditry is that this bill will stall indefinitely. The excuse that Republicans give in opposition to helping the 99ers is that they are against more deficit spending, which is really just their excuse to be cold and heartless. Their desire for fiscal restraint certainly did not stop them from joining hands with President Obama to add hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy to the deficit. But on this issue I think the Republicans are playing with fire and will break eventually.
According to Republican Fed Chairmen Ben Bernanke, it will take 4-5 years for the country to reach a normal level of unemployment again, without factoring the possibility of a double-dip. That is a long time to leave millions of suffering voters high and dry. Republicans may not have compassion, but they do have a strong sense of self-preservation. At some point voter anger will reach a tipping point where the Republicans will have to buckle. But maybe I am just being hopeful?
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Rant - Democrats Cave In: No Tier 5 for Unemployment Extension 2010
Rant - Democrats Cave In: No Tier 5 for Unemployment Extension 2010
As they say, a week is a long time in politics and no more so then in the current lame duck session. Less then a week ago, the Democrats in the House of Representatives were in rebellion over the deal made between President Obama and the Republicans.
The most contentious issues of the agreement between the President and the GOP were the extensions of all the Bush era tax cuts for a further 2 years, but only a further 13 months extension for federal emergency unemployment insurance tiers 1 - 4. And a glaring omission was that the subject of a Tier 5 for the long-term unemployed – the 99ers, was not even discussed by those brokering the agreement.
On Wednesday, one of the most vocal Democrats in opposition to the bill, Peter Welch [D,VT], appeared to sum up the Democrats current position on the bill, with him being resigned to the fact that the bill would be passed by the House without any "significant" modification, saying "The die is now cast," and that "any further discussion of changes to the bill are now academic."
So it appears now that the Democrats have rolled over and caved in to the Republicans threats to block any amendments to the bill. By folding so easily, the Democrats have abandoned several million people to fend for themselves, leaving them without any form of assistance or income to tide them over until the nations depressed job market improves. To say that these people feel betrayed and abandoned by the Government is an understatement.
Readers have expressed their dismay, with Martin writing "I can't believe that this country of ours runs to help other countries in need, but is unwilling to help its fellow Americans. These Republicans are fighting because they want tax breaks for the wealthy and super wealthy, who in turn are sending all their jobs and business overseas. This has to be a literal crime against all Americans. I really don't understand why no one is voicing this in the media."
Another reader writes "It is said that the American voter has a short memory, but without relief for millions of 99ers in this package, this nightmare is just beginning. How many will it take before Congress wakes up to the untold suffering that is life without any unemployment benefits and abject poverty? When will the numbers get big enough that even the Republicans can not ignore them? Can they ever get big enough to make a difference?
The feelings of many were summed up by this comment: "There was never a Country as free as the United States of America. When it came into being, no such country had ever existed. People fought for their lives to keep such a freedom alive…Now once again more than ever here we stand again, watching our freedoms begin to disappear one by one. The Rich are becoming richer and more powerful as the Middle Class Begins to disappear and the poor just become poorer. How long will we stand and watch before we take action again, to save our freedoms here in the United States of America!"
As they say, a week is a long time in politics and no more so then in the current lame duck session. Less then a week ago, the Democrats in the House of Representatives were in rebellion over the deal made between President Obama and the Republicans.
The most contentious issues of the agreement between the President and the GOP were the extensions of all the Bush era tax cuts for a further 2 years, but only a further 13 months extension for federal emergency unemployment insurance tiers 1 - 4. And a glaring omission was that the subject of a Tier 5 for the long-term unemployed – the 99ers, was not even discussed by those brokering the agreement.
On Wednesday, one of the most vocal Democrats in opposition to the bill, Peter Welch [D,VT], appeared to sum up the Democrats current position on the bill, with him being resigned to the fact that the bill would be passed by the House without any "significant" modification, saying "The die is now cast," and that "any further discussion of changes to the bill are now academic."
So it appears now that the Democrats have rolled over and caved in to the Republicans threats to block any amendments to the bill. By folding so easily, the Democrats have abandoned several million people to fend for themselves, leaving them without any form of assistance or income to tide them over until the nations depressed job market improves. To say that these people feel betrayed and abandoned by the Government is an understatement.
Readers have expressed their dismay, with Martin writing "I can't believe that this country of ours runs to help other countries in need, but is unwilling to help its fellow Americans. These Republicans are fighting because they want tax breaks for the wealthy and super wealthy, who in turn are sending all their jobs and business overseas. This has to be a literal crime against all Americans. I really don't understand why no one is voicing this in the media."
Another reader writes "It is said that the American voter has a short memory, but without relief for millions of 99ers in this package, this nightmare is just beginning. How many will it take before Congress wakes up to the untold suffering that is life without any unemployment benefits and abject poverty? When will the numbers get big enough that even the Republicans can not ignore them? Can they ever get big enough to make a difference?
The feelings of many were summed up by this comment: "There was never a Country as free as the United States of America. When it came into being, no such country had ever existed. People fought for their lives to keep such a freedom alive…Now once again more than ever here we stand again, watching our freedoms begin to disappear one by one. The Rich are becoming richer and more powerful as the Middle Class Begins to disappear and the poor just become poorer. How long will we stand and watch before we take action again, to save our freedoms here in the United States of America!"
Monday, December 13, 2010
Long-term unemployment is worrying - Dec. 13, 2010
Long-term unemployment is worrying - Dec. 13, 2010: "FORTUNE -- What happens to a nation's collective psyche when millions of once-productive people remain out of work for months or even years? What happens when unemployed husbands resign themselves to relying on a wife's income, when unemployed wives feel trapped at home, when twenty- and thirtysomethings calculate that they'd rather live off their parents than face a cut-throat job market, when middle-aged men and women stop searching for jobs after realizing they're hopelessly lost in a haze of rapid-fire technological change?
The pre-holiday bickering over tax cuts and extending unemployment benefits is drowning out a December government number so frightening it should concentrate the minds of every posturing political leader in Washington: 9.8% unemployment. That is staggering, up from when the recession ended 18 months ago, and comes despite signs of recovery in retail, real estate, and corporate profits.
Especially troubling is that long-term unemployment continues to mount. 'It is unprecedented in post--World War II U.S. history to have 3% of the labor force unemployed for over a year,' Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said in a recent speech. 'If history is any guide, this year-plus unemployment rate will only revert to pre-recession levels after several years.'
Add to that mix this perplexing fact: While there aren't nearly enough jobs, there are more of them -- a lot more. Since the month after the recession ended, the number of available jobs has surged 44%, according to the Labor Department. Job vacancies are nowhere near pre-recession levels (according to the Conference Board, there are still 10.4 million more unemployed workers than advertised vacancies). Still, there are as many as three million jobs going unfilled.
Various economists have posited various reasons for this mismatch:
* Employers, still reeling from all the downsizing they've had to do, are pickier about whom they hire and slower to close the deal.
* Jobless workers, especially those out of work for months and years, don't have the skills to multitask in a fast-paced economy where medical workers need to know electronic record-keeping, machinists need computer skills, and marketing managers can no longer delegate software duties.
* Workers, some of whom feel cushioned by unemployment benefits, are too picky to take lower-paying or less prestigious jobs.
* There is a geographic divide between where the jobless are -- states like Florida, Nevada, and Michigan -- and where the jobs are -- states like Maryland, South Dakota, and Iowa. Relocation is especially hard if your mortgage is under water.
The cost of not working
Whatever the right mix of reasons, the fallout is crippling. Economically, long-term joblessness means fewer dollars for consumption. For deficit control, it means fewer taxpayers contributing to government revenues and tens of billions more spent on unemployment insurance. Then there is the psychological toll on individuals and families -- and on the nation.
Early on in the recession, popular culture seized on the romantic notion of tightening our belts and looking inward to frills-free fun with our friends and families, after a decade of borrowed hyperconsumption. Now we need to ask a less romantic question: What happens when millions of Americans lose the habit of work, a habit that lends balance, structure, dignity -- and, of course, economic support -- to lives?
The longer people are unemployed the less employable they become. Skills become rusty; managers look more suspiciously at someone who has been out of work for years than a candidate already employed. I remember an old conservative saying: Graduate from high school; get a job -- any job; get married -- stay married; and (statistically speaking) your chances of landing in poverty are practically nil.
Even if that was once true, that calculation has lost some relevancy in this far more complex economy. But the concept of getting people back on the ladder, even if it's on a lower rung, is a worthy one.
Hopefully, Congress will pass a tax bill that gives business enough certainty and financial incentive to create more jobs. Hopefully, economic growth will begin to put a dent in that loss of 8 million jobs since the recession hit.
But an even knottier problem facing the nation's political leadership, from the President on down, is how to get the long-term unemployed into jobs as they become available. To avoid becoming chronically unemployed, people need more than platitudes offering sympathy. Career reinvention requires encouragement and guidance. Business leaders have specifics to offer on what jobs will be coming down the pike in expanding sectors like health care, and what skills are needed. They should to be brought into the political dialogue.
President Obama opened the conversation this fall with an industry-led initiative to better match community college graduates with skilled jobs. He followed with a Dec. 6 speech calling for a 'Sputnik moment' to restart American innovation to create jobs and compete in the world.
But as he assembles a largely new economic team, the President face a more immediate challenge: the need for a 'Manhattan Project' to get the long-term jobless back to work, something that would boost the psyche of both the unemployed and the nation
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
The pre-holiday bickering over tax cuts and extending unemployment benefits is drowning out a December government number so frightening it should concentrate the minds of every posturing political leader in Washington: 9.8% unemployment. That is staggering, up from when the recession ended 18 months ago, and comes despite signs of recovery in retail, real estate, and corporate profits.
Especially troubling is that long-term unemployment continues to mount. 'It is unprecedented in post--World War II U.S. history to have 3% of the labor force unemployed for over a year,' Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said in a recent speech. 'If history is any guide, this year-plus unemployment rate will only revert to pre-recession levels after several years.'
Add to that mix this perplexing fact: While there aren't nearly enough jobs, there are more of them -- a lot more. Since the month after the recession ended, the number of available jobs has surged 44%, according to the Labor Department. Job vacancies are nowhere near pre-recession levels (according to the Conference Board, there are still 10.4 million more unemployed workers than advertised vacancies). Still, there are as many as three million jobs going unfilled.
Various economists have posited various reasons for this mismatch:
* Employers, still reeling from all the downsizing they've had to do, are pickier about whom they hire and slower to close the deal.
* Jobless workers, especially those out of work for months and years, don't have the skills to multitask in a fast-paced economy where medical workers need to know electronic record-keeping, machinists need computer skills, and marketing managers can no longer delegate software duties.
* Workers, some of whom feel cushioned by unemployment benefits, are too picky to take lower-paying or less prestigious jobs.
* There is a geographic divide between where the jobless are -- states like Florida, Nevada, and Michigan -- and where the jobs are -- states like Maryland, South Dakota, and Iowa. Relocation is especially hard if your mortgage is under water.
The cost of not working
Whatever the right mix of reasons, the fallout is crippling. Economically, long-term joblessness means fewer dollars for consumption. For deficit control, it means fewer taxpayers contributing to government revenues and tens of billions more spent on unemployment insurance. Then there is the psychological toll on individuals and families -- and on the nation.
Early on in the recession, popular culture seized on the romantic notion of tightening our belts and looking inward to frills-free fun with our friends and families, after a decade of borrowed hyperconsumption. Now we need to ask a less romantic question: What happens when millions of Americans lose the habit of work, a habit that lends balance, structure, dignity -- and, of course, economic support -- to lives?
The longer people are unemployed the less employable they become. Skills become rusty; managers look more suspiciously at someone who has been out of work for years than a candidate already employed. I remember an old conservative saying: Graduate from high school; get a job -- any job; get married -- stay married; and (statistically speaking) your chances of landing in poverty are practically nil.
Even if that was once true, that calculation has lost some relevancy in this far more complex economy. But the concept of getting people back on the ladder, even if it's on a lower rung, is a worthy one.
Hopefully, Congress will pass a tax bill that gives business enough certainty and financial incentive to create more jobs. Hopefully, economic growth will begin to put a dent in that loss of 8 million jobs since the recession hit.
But an even knottier problem facing the nation's political leadership, from the President on down, is how to get the long-term unemployed into jobs as they become available. To avoid becoming chronically unemployed, people need more than platitudes offering sympathy. Career reinvention requires encouragement and guidance. Business leaders have specifics to offer on what jobs will be coming down the pike in expanding sectors like health care, and what skills are needed. They should to be brought into the political dialogue.
President Obama opened the conversation this fall with an industry-led initiative to better match community college graduates with skilled jobs. He followed with a Dec. 6 speech calling for a 'Sputnik moment' to restart American innovation to create jobs and compete in the world.
But as he assembles a largely new economic team, the President face a more immediate challenge: the need for a 'Manhattan Project' to get the long-term jobless back to work, something that would boost the psyche of both the unemployed and the nation
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Abby Ale to be made in Chico
Reporting from Vina, Calif. — For the Trappist monks at the Abbey of New Clairvaux, life follows a pattern centuries old.
They spend their days in the field and their nights in silence. They gather in prayer seven times daily, starting at 3:30 a.m. In many of their affairs, they are still guided by the 6th century Rule of St. Benedict — but not one of its 73 chapters deals with their current travails.
Benedict offers no words of wisdom on how the monks might find the funds to complete their most passionate pursuit: the resurrection of a medieval monastery from a jumble of stones William Randolph Hearst shipped over from Spain.
He is silent, too, on negotiating deals with a major brewery.
The 23 monks at the rustic abbey north of Chico are seasoned winemakers — their Poor Souls Petite Syrah is a prizewinner — but, until a recent agreement with Sierra Nevada, all they knew of beer was how, on occasion, to drink it.
They are learning.
In partnership with the monks, Sierra Nevada next year will release an ale that pays tribute to the renowned Trappist beers of Europe. The brew also will be a boost to New Clairvaux, with the company pouring some of the venture's profits into the monastery reconstruction project. Sierra Nevada will train Father Thomas X. Davis, New Clairvaux's 77-year-old abbot emeritus, as a "sensory professional" — a beer taster who knows his phenols from his esters.
The alliance was forged only in the last year when the monks contacted the brewery, one of Chico's biggest businesses.
"We approached them for a fundraiser," said Davis, a trim, wry man who also serves as the abbey's forklift operator. "I felt so outlandish."
But what's one outlandish moment in a saga spanning more than 800 years?
****
In 1190, monks started building the Santa Maria de Ovila monastery about 90 miles northeast of Madrid. For centuries the complex thrived, but by 1835 it was left to decay. Farm animals wandered through the chapel. The chapter house — a community hall so named for the chapters from the Rule of Benedict that were read daily — became a manure pit.
Nearly a century later, an art dealer working for Hearst, a voracious collector, stumbled across the ruins and purchased them for $85,000. Never one to think small, the legendary newspaper publisher planned to use Ovila's limestone blocks in a grand redesign of Wyntoon, his family retreat at the base of Mt. Shasta.
In 1931, more than 100 workers dismantled the monastery and 11 freighters hauled the stones — 2,200 tons in all — to San Francisco. Under Hearst's plan, they were to be used for a palace that would outshine San Simeon. Ovila's 1,800-square-foot chapter house was to be reconstructed as a reception hall for an eight-story castle. Its chapel was to be transformed into a swimming pool 150 feet long.
The Depression scuttled Hearst's vision. Ultimately, he gave the stones — some weighing as much as half a ton — to San Francisco for construction of a medieval museum. But for decades they sat in Golden Gate Park, where they were scorched by fires and smashed by vandals. Some were used for a retaining wall at the Japanese Garden and others in projects throughoutthe park.
In 1955, Father Davis was passing through San Francisco when a friend pointed out crates of stones piled in a eucalyptus grove behind the de Young Museum. The friend told him they were the remnants of a Cistercian monastery.
"It was like being caught up in a dream," Davis recalled. The neglected remains were those of an all-but-forgotten sacred place founded by members of his own order — now known as Cistercians of the Strict Observance, or Trappists.
"Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing," he thought, "to get them for the abbey?"
****
When Davis took over as abbot 15 years later, he hadn't forgotten the stones. From time to time, he read stories in the San Francisco papers either about new plans to use them or anger at their continued neglect. He never quit thinking that somehow they could be put to good use on the abbey's 590 acres of vines and prune trees, part of a huge spread once owned by California railroad tycoon and politician Leland Stanford.
Sometime in the 1980s, a group of New Clairvaux monks drove to San Francisco and, with permission from parks officials, loaded a pickup with about 20 stones. "I thought we'd use them artistically around the abbey somewhere," Davis said.
But nobody told Margaret Burke, an architectural historian who had a grant to study the prospect of the monastery's reconstruction. When she learned that some of the stones were at New Clairvaux, she showed up to retrieve them.
"She was expecting I would give her a hard time," said Davis, "but I'm not that kind of person."
Burke left with the stones — and with the impression that if Ovila didn't rise in Golden Gate Park, it just might have a good home at New Clairvaux
In 1994, museum officials gave the monks the go-ahead to take the lot. The only requirement was that they start work within 10 years on a project that would be open to the public.
The next year, the last of 19 truckloads left San Francisco for Vina. It was a poignant moment, ceremonially marked by a handful of modern-day Druids who had long used the stones in worship. Davis left some behind for them.
When the dust cleared, the abbey had about 1,300 stones — a fraction of Hearst's shipment from Spain. That would be enough, Burke had concluded, to restore the chapter house.
****
Davis became the plan's overseer, champion, fundraiser and publicist. As word spread, foundations and individuals gave money. Some people made bequests. So far, about $6 million has come in, with an additional $1 million needed to complete the chapter house by 2012.
It's exacting work, made even more complex by the need for a concrete superstructure to brace the medieval building against earthquakes. Craftsmen familiar with dramatically vaulted Gothic ceilings are rare in the farm country around Vina.
For six years, the job has been supervised by Frank Helmholz, a German master mason who splits his time between the abbey and a restoration project at Egypt's Temple of Luxor. Clambering up a ladder in the chapter house, he confesses to a daily dose of awe, pointing out the signatures inscribed by long-ago Spanish carvers: cross-hatched lines, a backward N, even a Star of David. Others are still heaped shoulder-high in the vast brick barn built to store Stanford's brandy at what was once the world's largest winery.
"I feel a connection to the old stonemasons," Helmholz said as he helped workers hoist a stone with a pulley and chain. "For me, it's a labor from on high."
The building is about three-quarters done. It's as spare as Shaker furniture, reflecting the Trappists' unadorned faith.
"The simplicity, the depth, the light: It's a nice image of God," Davis said.
With its columns and arched entryways, it is intended to look much as it did when Spanish monks assembled it in the centuries before Columbus set sail.
Exactly how it looked back then is a matter of scholarly speculation. Builders working on the New Clairvaux project were guided by photographs and drawings made as the original chapter house was pried apart in 1931 — when it was a dilapidated shell. Only about 60% of the original stones survived the centuries in Spain and their exile in San Francisco; the rest were carved out of a limestone quarry in Texas, the closest place builders could find stones that matched the ones in Spain.
****
At Sierra Nevada's headquarters in Chico, 20 miles south of the abbey, executives have been keeping an eye on the chapter house's progress.
Seven Trappist monasteries in Belgium and Holland own the trademark "Trappist beer" and zealously guard its use. Sierra Nevada's "abbey ale" will be released in three varieties next winter, summer and fall. All will be called Ovila, in a nod to the project at New Clairvaux.
Though Ovila will not be labeled a Trappist beer, the brewery is taking the Trappist tradition seriously.
"Everybody in the brewing business knows about the legacy of Trappist beers," said Sierra Nevada spokesman Bill Manley. "It's monumental."
Manley, Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman and other executives recently visited Trappist monasteries that brew beer in Belgium, with Davis as their guide.
"I know some of the monks over there," he said. "And, as it happened, I had nothing else to do."
Neither the abbey nor the brewery is disclosing how much money the ale will generate.
At about $10 per champagne-style bottle, that's up to high-end consumers who have a taste for Belgium or a soft spot for medieval monastic history.
"Who knows?" Davis said with a smile. "It depends how much they drink."
steve.chawkins@latimes.com
They spend their days in the field and their nights in silence. They gather in prayer seven times daily, starting at 3:30 a.m. In many of their affairs, they are still guided by the 6th century Rule of St. Benedict — but not one of its 73 chapters deals with their current travails.
Benedict offers no words of wisdom on how the monks might find the funds to complete their most passionate pursuit: the resurrection of a medieval monastery from a jumble of stones William Randolph Hearst shipped over from Spain.
He is silent, too, on negotiating deals with a major brewery.
The 23 monks at the rustic abbey north of Chico are seasoned winemakers — their Poor Souls Petite Syrah is a prizewinner — but, until a recent agreement with Sierra Nevada, all they knew of beer was how, on occasion, to drink it.
They are learning.
In partnership with the monks, Sierra Nevada next year will release an ale that pays tribute to the renowned Trappist beers of Europe. The brew also will be a boost to New Clairvaux, with the company pouring some of the venture's profits into the monastery reconstruction project. Sierra Nevada will train Father Thomas X. Davis, New Clairvaux's 77-year-old abbot emeritus, as a "sensory professional" — a beer taster who knows his phenols from his esters.
The alliance was forged only in the last year when the monks contacted the brewery, one of Chico's biggest businesses.
"We approached them for a fundraiser," said Davis, a trim, wry man who also serves as the abbey's forklift operator. "I felt so outlandish."
But what's one outlandish moment in a saga spanning more than 800 years?
****
In 1190, monks started building the Santa Maria de Ovila monastery about 90 miles northeast of Madrid. For centuries the complex thrived, but by 1835 it was left to decay. Farm animals wandered through the chapel. The chapter house — a community hall so named for the chapters from the Rule of Benedict that were read daily — became a manure pit.
Nearly a century later, an art dealer working for Hearst, a voracious collector, stumbled across the ruins and purchased them for $85,000. Never one to think small, the legendary newspaper publisher planned to use Ovila's limestone blocks in a grand redesign of Wyntoon, his family retreat at the base of Mt. Shasta.
In 1931, more than 100 workers dismantled the monastery and 11 freighters hauled the stones — 2,200 tons in all — to San Francisco. Under Hearst's plan, they were to be used for a palace that would outshine San Simeon. Ovila's 1,800-square-foot chapter house was to be reconstructed as a reception hall for an eight-story castle. Its chapel was to be transformed into a swimming pool 150 feet long.
The Depression scuttled Hearst's vision. Ultimately, he gave the stones — some weighing as much as half a ton — to San Francisco for construction of a medieval museum. But for decades they sat in Golden Gate Park, where they were scorched by fires and smashed by vandals. Some were used for a retaining wall at the Japanese Garden and others in projects throughoutthe park.
In 1955, Father Davis was passing through San Francisco when a friend pointed out crates of stones piled in a eucalyptus grove behind the de Young Museum. The friend told him they were the remnants of a Cistercian monastery.
"It was like being caught up in a dream," Davis recalled. The neglected remains were those of an all-but-forgotten sacred place founded by members of his own order — now known as Cistercians of the Strict Observance, or Trappists.
"Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing," he thought, "to get them for the abbey?"
****
When Davis took over as abbot 15 years later, he hadn't forgotten the stones. From time to time, he read stories in the San Francisco papers either about new plans to use them or anger at their continued neglect. He never quit thinking that somehow they could be put to good use on the abbey's 590 acres of vines and prune trees, part of a huge spread once owned by California railroad tycoon and politician Leland Stanford.
Sometime in the 1980s, a group of New Clairvaux monks drove to San Francisco and, with permission from parks officials, loaded a pickup with about 20 stones. "I thought we'd use them artistically around the abbey somewhere," Davis said.
But nobody told Margaret Burke, an architectural historian who had a grant to study the prospect of the monastery's reconstruction. When she learned that some of the stones were at New Clairvaux, she showed up to retrieve them.
"She was expecting I would give her a hard time," said Davis, "but I'm not that kind of person."
Burke left with the stones — and with the impression that if Ovila didn't rise in Golden Gate Park, it just might have a good home at New Clairvaux
In 1994, museum officials gave the monks the go-ahead to take the lot. The only requirement was that they start work within 10 years on a project that would be open to the public.
The next year, the last of 19 truckloads left San Francisco for Vina. It was a poignant moment, ceremonially marked by a handful of modern-day Druids who had long used the stones in worship. Davis left some behind for them.
When the dust cleared, the abbey had about 1,300 stones — a fraction of Hearst's shipment from Spain. That would be enough, Burke had concluded, to restore the chapter house.
****
Davis became the plan's overseer, champion, fundraiser and publicist. As word spread, foundations and individuals gave money. Some people made bequests. So far, about $6 million has come in, with an additional $1 million needed to complete the chapter house by 2012.
It's exacting work, made even more complex by the need for a concrete superstructure to brace the medieval building against earthquakes. Craftsmen familiar with dramatically vaulted Gothic ceilings are rare in the farm country around Vina.
For six years, the job has been supervised by Frank Helmholz, a German master mason who splits his time between the abbey and a restoration project at Egypt's Temple of Luxor. Clambering up a ladder in the chapter house, he confesses to a daily dose of awe, pointing out the signatures inscribed by long-ago Spanish carvers: cross-hatched lines, a backward N, even a Star of David. Others are still heaped shoulder-high in the vast brick barn built to store Stanford's brandy at what was once the world's largest winery.
"I feel a connection to the old stonemasons," Helmholz said as he helped workers hoist a stone with a pulley and chain. "For me, it's a labor from on high."
The building is about three-quarters done. It's as spare as Shaker furniture, reflecting the Trappists' unadorned faith.
"The simplicity, the depth, the light: It's a nice image of God," Davis said.
With its columns and arched entryways, it is intended to look much as it did when Spanish monks assembled it in the centuries before Columbus set sail.
Exactly how it looked back then is a matter of scholarly speculation. Builders working on the New Clairvaux project were guided by photographs and drawings made as the original chapter house was pried apart in 1931 — when it was a dilapidated shell. Only about 60% of the original stones survived the centuries in Spain and their exile in San Francisco; the rest were carved out of a limestone quarry in Texas, the closest place builders could find stones that matched the ones in Spain.
****
At Sierra Nevada's headquarters in Chico, 20 miles south of the abbey, executives have been keeping an eye on the chapter house's progress.
Seven Trappist monasteries in Belgium and Holland own the trademark "Trappist beer" and zealously guard its use. Sierra Nevada's "abbey ale" will be released in three varieties next winter, summer and fall. All will be called Ovila, in a nod to the project at New Clairvaux.
Though Ovila will not be labeled a Trappist beer, the brewery is taking the Trappist tradition seriously.
"Everybody in the brewing business knows about the legacy of Trappist beers," said Sierra Nevada spokesman Bill Manley. "It's monumental."
Manley, Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman and other executives recently visited Trappist monasteries that brew beer in Belgium, with Davis as their guide.
"I know some of the monks over there," he said. "And, as it happened, I had nothing else to do."
Neither the abbey nor the brewery is disclosing how much money the ale will generate.
At about $10 per champagne-style bottle, that's up to high-end consumers who have a taste for Belgium or a soft spot for medieval monastic history.
"Who knows?" Davis said with a smile. "It depends how much they drink."
steve.chawkins@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times
Monday, November 22, 2010
Repeal health care? Give up your own first!
Repeal health care? Give up your own first!: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
For 2 years, GOP leaders in Congress fought tooth and nail to oppose health care reform. They did their best to keep tens of millions without coverage, decrying any effort to help citizens as "socialist," "fascist" or some other equally baffling "ist." And incredibly, they are now talking about repealing it.
For 2 years, GOP leaders in Congress fought tooth and nail to oppose health care reform. They did their best to keep tens of millions without coverage, decrying any effort to help citizens as "socialist," "fascist" or some other equally baffling "ist." And incredibly, they are now talking about repealing it. And yet, when it comes to their own coverage, Republicans in Congress are not only using government-sponsored health care, they are whining about having to wait for it.
Well, four brave members of Congress are calling GOP leaders on their hypocrisy, demanding they practice what they preach, and calling on them to give up their government-sponsored health care:
Four members -- Joe Crowley (NY), Linda Sanchez (CA), Donna Edwards (MD), and Tim Ryan (OH) -- are rounding up signatures for a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Speaker-to-be John Boehner, encouraging them to press their members to refuse their federal health benefits based on the same principles underlying their opposition to health care reform.
"It is amazing that your members would complain about not having health care coverage for a few weeks, even after campaigning to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which will help provide coverage to millions of Americans who find themselves without health insurance for months or even years," the letter reads. "It begs the question: how many members of the Republican conference will be forgoing the employer-subsidized FEHBP coverage and experiencing what so many Americans find themselves forced to face? If your conference wants to deny millions of Americans affordable health care, your members should walk that walk."
We couldn't agree more. Write McConnell and Boehner today, and ask them if they will practice what they preach - and ask other GOP members to do the same.
Friday, November 5, 2010
OBAMA'S COLLEGE CLASSMATE SPEAKS OUT
OBAMA'S COLLEGE CLASSMATE SPEAKS OUT
By Wayne Allyn Root, June 6th, 2010
Barack Obama is no fool. He is not incompetent. To the contrary, he is brilliant. He knows exactly what he's doing. He is purposely overwhelming the U.S. economy to create systemic failure, economic crisis and social chaos -- thereby destroying capitalism and our country from within.
Barack Obama is my college classmate ( Columbia University , class of '83). As Glenn Beck correctly predicted from day one, Obama is following the plan of Cloward & Piven, two professors at Columbia University . They outlined a plan to socialize America by overwhelming the system with government spending and entitlement demands.
Add up the clues below. Taken individually they're alarming. Taken as a whole, it is a brilliant, Machiavellian game plan to turn the United States into a socialist/Marxist state with a permanent majority that desperately needs government for survival .. and can be counted on to always vote for bigger government. Why not? They have no responsibility to pay for it.
-- Universal health care. The health care bill had very little to do with health care. It had everything to do with unionizing millions of hospital and health care workers, as well as adding 15,000 to 20,000 new IRS agents (who will join government employee unions). Obama doesn't care that giving free health care to 30 million Americans will add trillions to the national debt. What he does care about is that it cements the dependence of those 30 million voters to Democrats and big government. Who but a socialist revolutionary would pass this reckless spending bill in the middle of a depression?
-- Cap and trade. Like health care legislation having nothing to do with health care, cap and trade has nothing to do with global warming It has everything to do with redistribution of income, government control of the economy and a criminal payoff to Obama's biggest contributors. Those powerful and wealthy unions and contributors (like GE, which owns NBC, MSNBC and CNBC) can then be counted on to support everything Obama wants. They will kick-back hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions to Obama and the Democratic Party to keep them in power. The bonus is that all the new taxes on Americans with bigger cars, bigger homes and businesses helps Obama "spread the wealth around."
-- Make Puerto Rico a state. Why? Who's asking for a 51st state? Who's asking for millions of new welfare recipients and government entitlement addicts in the middle of a depression? Certainly not American taxpayers. But this has been Obama's plan all along. His goal is to add two new Democrat senators, five Democrat congressman and a million loyal Democratic voters who are dependent on big government.
-- Legalize 12 million illegal immigrants. Just giving these 12 million potential new citizens free health care alone could overwhelm the system and bankrupt America . But it adds 12 million reliable new Democrat voters who can be counted on to support big government. Add another few trillion dollars in welfare, aid to dependent children, food stamps, free medical, education, tax credits for the poor, and eventually Social Security.
-- Stimulus and bailouts. Where did all that money go? It went to Democrat contributors, organizations (ACORN), and unions -- including billions of dollars to save or create jobs of government employees across the country. It went to save GM and Chrysler so that their employees could keep paying union dues. It went to AIG so that Goldman Sachs could be bailed out (after giving Obama almost $1 million in contributions). A staggering $125 billion went to teachers (thereby protecting their union dues). All those public employees will vote loyally Democrat to protect their bloated salaries and pensions that are bankrupting America . The country goes broke, future generations face a bleak future, but Obama, the Democrat Party, government, and the unions grow more powerful. The ends justify the means.
-- Raise taxes on small business owners, high-income earners, and job creators. Put the entire burden on only the top 20 percent of taxpayers, redistribute the income, punish success, and reward those who did nothing to deserve it (except vote for Obama). Reagan wanted to dramatically cut taxes in order to starve the government. Obama wants to dramatically raise taxes to starve his political opposition.
With the acts outlined above, Obama and his regime have created a vast and rapidly expanding constituency of voters dependent on big government; a vast privileged class of public employees who work for big government; and a government dedicated to destroying capitalism and installing themselves as socialist rulers by overwhelming the system.
Add it up and you've got the perfect Marxist scheme -- all devised by my Columbia University college classmate Barack Obama using the Cloward and Piven Plan.
True per snopes!
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/overwhelm.asp
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Joe Biden tells Democrat base ’stop whining’ about Barack Obama » Right Pundits
Joe Biden tells Democrat base ’stop whining’ about Barack Obama » Right Pundits
You just have to hand it to the Democrats, nobody can insult people more than they. If remarks from Senator John Kerry (D-MA) about American voters being ignorant were not bad enough, Vice President Joe Biden added to the folly yesterday. Appearing at a fundraiser for Paul Hodes, who is running for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire, Joe Biden told the Democrat base to ’stop whining’ about Barack Obama. Various factions within the Democrats all have a beef about Obama, ranging from anti-war groups mad about our continued involvement overseas to Socialists who think Obama is not going far or fast enough with transforming America.
Both Biden and Obama are cautioning their political base about the lack of enthusiasm for the fall mid-term elections in November. President Obama recorded a ‘robo-call’ message along this line, encouraging people to get active. He tells Democrats that you cannot get excited and vote once every ten years. In New Hampshire, Biden assured ‘the base’ that Obama has done ‘an incredible job’ and that ‘He’s kept his promises.’
Today, both Obama and Biden head ‘back to school’. President Obama will appear at the University of Wisconsin and VP Biden will be at Pennsylvania State University. Every single poll shows the Democrats losing control of the House of Representatives. Some 54 seats appear to be in the bag for GOP victories. Polling data shows perhaps another 20 or so in doubt. What’s more, in over 100 districts nationwide, there is practically no polling data at all. With the current mood of anti-incumbency and a wholesale rejection of Obama’s economic agenda and health care reform, November could be a very bad for Democrats.
Both Biden and Obama now admit that if the November election winds up being a referendum on the economy, Democrats will lose. Both are urging their base to consider what may happen if the GOP wins control of the House, and even the Senate. Former White House ‘green jobs czar’, Van Jones is also out stumping for the Democrat base to get in gear. He recently spoke in California warning “If you think things are bad now, what will happen when the people are screaming and yelling at these Tea Party events are actually in charge of your government, and in charge of your life and in charge of your kids’ future?”
Jones forgets to point out that if the Tea Party has it’s way, government won’t be ‘in charge of your life’. The whole idea the Tea Party advocates is for a smaller, less intrusive government. But, that is beyond the comprehension of people like Van Jones, Joe Biden and Barack Obama. They see government as needing to be as large and as intrusive as possible, since, as John Kerry points out, Americans are too ignorant to be in charge of their own lives. For Obama and like-minded Progressives, government must have power over all of us.
With just five weeks to go before the November mid-term elections, it may be too late for Joe Biden and Barack Obama to get the Democrat base to ’stop whining’ and energize them. I have heard the recording Obama made for the ‘robo-call’ message and it is BORING! He should of asked his pal and former spiritual minister, Jeremiah Wright to make it. At least Wright has a pulse and can show some emotion. Unlike stiffs like Joe Biden, Barack Obama and John Kerry.
Related Articles:
Oh my: Biden tells liberal base to ’stop whining’
Obama, Biden head back to school to reach young voters
Van Jones Slams Controversial California Ballot Proposition
More Political News:
Friday, September 17, 2010
Random Observations
Some good funny questions and observations and I'm pretty sure the women will agree with # 24.
1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
6. Was learning cursive really necessary?
7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on step #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
10. Bad decisions usually form the basis for some pretty good stories.
11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray DVD's? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.
13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.
14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.
17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Road Hogs" routing option.
18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?
20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!
21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever. (bath towels may get wet but they also never get dirty as you are clean as you step out of the shower).
22. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
23. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.
24. The first testicular guard, the "cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important!
1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
6. Was learning cursive really necessary?
7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on step #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
10. Bad decisions usually form the basis for some pretty good stories.
11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray DVD's? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.
13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.
14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.
17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Road Hogs" routing option.
18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?
20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!
21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever. (bath towels may get wet but they also never get dirty as you are clean as you step out of the shower).
22. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
23. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.
24. The first testicular guard, the "cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Robot Bartender!!
Guy goes into a bar, there's a robot bartender.
The robot says, "What will you have?"
The guy says, "Martini."
The robot brings back the best martini ever and says to the man, "What's your IQ?"
The guy says, "168."
The robot then proceeds to talk about physics, space exploration and medical technology.
The guy leaves, but he is curious...So he goes back into the bar.
The robot bartender says, "What will you have?"
The guy says, "Martini."
Again, the robot makes a great martini gives it to the man and says, "What's your IQ?"
The guy says, "100."
The robot then starts to talk about NASCAR, Budweiser and John Deere tractors.
The guy leaves, but finds it very interesting, so he thinks he will try it one more time.
He goes back into the bar.
The robot says, "What will you have?"
The guy says, "Martini," and the robot brings him another great martini.
The robot then says, "What's your IQ?"
The guy says, "Uh, about 50."
The robot leans in real close and says,
"So, you people still happy you voted for Obama?"
The robot says, "What will you have?"
The guy says, "Martini."
The robot brings back the best martini ever and says to the man, "What's your IQ?"
The guy says, "168."
The robot then proceeds to talk about physics, space exploration and medical technology.
The guy leaves, but he is curious...So he goes back into the bar.
The robot bartender says, "What will you have?"
The guy says, "Martini."
Again, the robot makes a great martini gives it to the man and says, "What's your IQ?"
The guy says, "100."
The robot then starts to talk about NASCAR, Budweiser and John Deere tractors.
The guy leaves, but finds it very interesting, so he thinks he will try it one more time.
He goes back into the bar.
The robot says, "What will you have?"
The guy says, "Martini," and the robot brings him another great martini.
The robot then says, "What's your IQ?"
The guy says, "Uh, about 50."
The robot leans in real close and says,
"So, you people still happy you voted for Obama?"
Monday, July 26, 2010
Buchannan to Obama
BUCHANAN TO OBAMA
By Patrick J. Buchanan
Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America . Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation.. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.... This time, the Silent Majority needs to have its convictions, grievances and demands heard. And among them are these:
First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.. Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.
Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ' 60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream. Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks -- with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas -- to advance black applicants over white applicants. Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated their time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.
We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude??
Barack talks about new 'ladders of opportunity' for blacks.. Let him go to Altoona ? And Johnstown , and ask the white kids in Catholic schools how many were visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing out scholarships for 'deserving' white kids...? Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America ? Is it really white America 's fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?
Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?
As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time?
Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse?
We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena . And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.
Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago.
This needs to be passed around because, this is a message everyone needs to hear!!!
By Patrick J. Buchanan
Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America . Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation.. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.... This time, the Silent Majority needs to have its convictions, grievances and demands heard. And among them are these:
First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.. Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.
Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ' 60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream. Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks -- with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas -- to advance black applicants over white applicants. Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated their time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.
We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude??
Barack talks about new 'ladders of opportunity' for blacks.. Let him go to Altoona ? And Johnstown , and ask the white kids in Catholic schools how many were visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing out scholarships for 'deserving' white kids...? Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America ? Is it really white America 's fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?
Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?
As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time?
Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse?
We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena . And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.
Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago.
This needs to be passed around because, this is a message everyone needs to hear!!!
Buchannan to Obama
BUCHANAN TO OBAMA
By Patrick J. Buchanan
Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America . Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation.. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.... This time, the Silent Majority needs to have its convictions, grievances and demands heard. And among them are these:
First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.. Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.
Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ' 60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream. Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks -- with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas -- to advance black applicants over white applicants. Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated their time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.
We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude??
Barack talks about new 'ladders of opportunity' for blacks.. Let him go to Altoona ? And Johnstown , and ask the white kids in Catholic schools how many were visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing out scholarships for 'deserving' white kids...? Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America ? Is it really white America 's fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?
Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?
As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time?
Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse?
We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena . And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.
Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago.
By Patrick J. Buchanan
Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America . Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation.. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.... This time, the Silent Majority needs to have its convictions, grievances and demands heard. And among them are these:
First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.. Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American.
Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ' 60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream. Governments, businesses and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks -- with affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas -- to advance black applicants over white applicants. Churches, foundations, civic groups, schools and individuals all over America have donated their time and money to support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and nursing homes for blacks.
We hear the grievances. Where is the gratitude??
Barack talks about new 'ladders of opportunity' for blacks.. Let him go to Altoona ? And Johnstown , and ask the white kids in Catholic schools how many were visited lately by Ivy League recruiters handing out scholarships for 'deserving' white kids...? Is white America really responsible for the fact that the crime and incarceration rates for African-Americans are seven times those of white America ? Is it really white America 's fault that illegitimacy in the African-American community has hit 70 percent and the black dropout rate from high schools in some cities has reached 50 percent?
Is that the fault of white America or, first and foremost, a failure of the black community itself?
As for racism, its ugliest manifestation is in interracial crime, and especially interracial crimes of violence. Is Barack Obama aware that while white criminals choose black victims 3 percent of the time, black criminals choose white victims 45 percent of the time?
Is Barack aware that black-on-white rapes are 100 times more common than the reverse, that black-on-white robberies were 139 times as common in the first three years of this decade as the reverse?
We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena . And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.
Sorry, Barack, some of us have heard it all before, about 40 years and 40 trillion tax dollars ago.
This needs to be passed around because, this is a message everyone needs to hear!!!
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