Boston Globe: Bush challenges hundreds of laws
A
Boston Sunday Globe front page, top of the fold article says ...
President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.
Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems, ''whistle-blower" protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research. ...
Just one of many examples cited says
On at least four occasions while Bush has been president, Congress has passed laws forbidding US troops from engaging in combat in Colombia, where the US military is advising the government in its struggle against narcotics-funded Marxist rebels.
After signing each bill, Bush declared in his signing statement [an official document in which a president lays out his legal interpretation of a bill for the federal bureaucracy to follow when implementing the new law] that he did not have to obey any of the Colombia restrictions because he is commander in chief.
If there has ever been a time to impeach a president, this is it. He lies, and makes no apology for acting as if he is above the Constitution. George W. Bush makes a mockery of the rule of law.
Who's trying to repeal the Federal Estate Tax?
You won't be surprised when you read this report by
Public Citizen.
The multimillion-dollar lobbying effort to repeal the federal estate tax has been aggressively led by 18 super-wealthy families, according to a report released today by Public Citizen and United for a Fair Economy at a press conference in Washington, D.C. The report details for the first time the vast money, influence and deceptive marketing techniques behind the rhetoric in the campaign to repeal the tax.
It reveals how 18 families worth a total of $185.5 billion have financed and coordinated a 10-year effort to repeal the estate tax, a move that would collectively net them a windfall of $71.6 billion.
The report profiles the families and their businesses, which include the families behind Wal-Mart, Gallo wine, Campbell’s soup, and Mars Inc., maker of M&Ms. Collectively, the list includes the first- and third-largest privately held companies in the United States, the richest family in Alabama and the world’s largest retailer. ...
A tip of the hat to
Will Shetterly.
What won't airlines do to increase capacity?
The
New York Times (free registration required) reports ...
The airlines have come up with a new answer to an old question: How many passengers can be squeezed into economy class?
A lot more, it turns out, especially if an idea still in the early stage should catch on: standing-room-only "seats."
Airbus has been quietly pitching the standing-room-only option to Asian carriers, though none have agreed to it yet. Passengers in the standing section would be propped against a padded backboard, held in place with a harness, according to experts who have seen a proposal. ...
Yep, that sounds good. Fly standing up, propped up against a padded backboard.
Deregulation don't always work the way it's supposed to
The
Christian Science Monitor reports ...
It's the slow season for the laundromat in tiny Milford, Pa., yet owner Darryl Wood has raised the price of a wash by 50 cents this year, to $2.50. The reason? Electric rates have more than doubled since January, threatening to close the lid on a business his family has run for decades.
"I've already seen an electric bill higher than anything that I've ever gotten," he says. "I thought deregulation would bring rates down. Now, I'm just hoping we can hang on."
His ordeal reflects the fresh dismay many consumers are feeling about the deregulation of the electric utility industry. When deregulation was implemented in the 1990s, supporters said it would drive rates down through competition.
But data so far suggest that rates in deregulated states are rising faster than those in regulated states. That trend could expand as caps on retail electric rates, which have held prices down, are lifted in at least six deregulated states this year. ...
Does that smack even a little of Enron-style manipulation? That free-market economy thang ain't always what it's made out to be.
Dan Harper: Ten reasons why mid-size churches are better
Dan Harper gives
Ten reasons why mid-size churches are better.
I’ve been getting tired of the way liberal religion is becoming increasingly marginalized in the United States, which means I’ve been thinking a lot about church growth. Did you know that most Unitarian Universalist congregations average less than 100 men, women, and children at worship and Sunday school each week? Same is true of other liberal churches. If we could only get those small churches to grow… but many people who belong to small churches say they like the feeling of knowing everyone at their church.
OK, maybe, but here’s ten reasons why mid-size churches are better: ...
UUA: Time to review the Principles
The Unitarian Universalist Association thinks it's
Time to review the Principles.
Whether you find deep meaning in them or consider them unnecessarily bland, an opportunity is coming to consider changes in the Principles and Sources of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
Article II of the UUA bylaws contains the covenant of the congregations that make up the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. It includes the seven Principles and the six Sources, as well as the Purposes that set forth the Association’s mission. Article XV mandates that Article II be reviewed not less than every 15 years.
The Principles and Sources may seem immutable, but they have been changed twice since the original UUA Principles were created in 1960 during the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America. The original language—six Principles, with no Sources cited—was overhauled as the result of a review in the early 1980s, and the seventh Principle (affirming the interdependent web of all existence) and five Sources were added at that time. The sixth Source (earth-centered traditions) was added in 1995. ...
Americans United Applauds 'Faith Czar' Towey's Departure From White House
The web site for
Americans United for Separation of Church and State says ...
Americans United for Separation of Church and State today applauded the departure of White House "Faith Czar" James Towey and urged President George W. Bush to close the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
"Jim Towey has waged an unrelenting war against church-state separation," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "He played a key role in using the 'faith-based' initiative for improper partisan purposes, and he did little or nothing to see that Americans get the social-service help they need from their government. That’s a sad legacy to leave.
"Towey was the Bush administration’s point man in trying to roll back civil rights laws barring religious discrimination in hiring in government-funded programs," Lynn continued. "I am pleased that he failed to push that terrible idea through Congress." ...
Saying Thank You
Street Prophets talks about
gratitude.
I think I've told this story before, but it's worth repeating.
I knew a man in Minneapolis, a journalist who once wrote a long series about life on the Northern Plains. He said that while he researched his articles, his schedule often called for him to get up early and drive into the dawn (I guess he shot out to his farthest point first, then worked his way back). He would pass through mile after mile of ridiculously beautiful scenery in the early morning, alone and at peace. He often felt, he said, the need to say "thank you" to someone. Who, he didn't know, nor why.
But the need was there, and so he did.
And he always felt better for it. ...
Revved!
If you manage or supervise people (or would like to learn one of the major ways to do so successfully), check out
Revved!: An Incredible Way to Rev Up Your Workplace and Achieve Amazing Results.
It's a quick read - maybe 1 or 2 hours. A couple of decades ago, I did some contract work for Digital Equipment Corporation, and the book brought back memories of one of the major parts of their management culture.
Sojourners on the Walton Family Foundation
An article in
The Sojourners discusses the Walton Family Foundation (of Wal-Mart fame) and their support of conservative private schools.
... To deliver on its “We Sell for Less” pledge, Wal-Mart leverages its tremendous market power to squeeze its suppliers to produce for less. This forces producers to seek the lowest possible environmental and labor costs and often to shift production to sweatshops in China and other countries where workers have little power. With their controlling interest, the Walton family could be a moral force for good, urging the company to end such practices and raise wage and benefit standards for their own employees. Instead, they remain silent.
The 2004 election campaign cycle revealed that Alice Walton has begun to champion conservative candidates and causes. She was in the top 20 biggest contributors to right-wing “527” lobbying corporations. Her largest donation of $2.6 million went to Progress for America, which sponsored the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attack on candidate John Kerry and lobbied for the privatization of social security and repeal of the estate tax.
The Waltons’ most significant legacy, however, may come from the family’s charitable giving and the hundreds of millions of dollars channeled since 1998 toward conservative school privatization efforts. As Jim Hopkins observed in USA Today, the Waltons “have begun focusing more giving on private-school scholarships, charter schools, and vouchers—revealing clues as to how they’ll target giving as their family charitable foundations grow.” Walton funds support projects that weaken public schools and shift public resources to private schools, undermining a cornerstone of equality of opportunity and democracy in the U.S. ...
A correspondence with the president of Wheaton College
The Feminarian, who attends Fuller Theological Seminary, recently received a letter from the president of Wheaton College who's apparently not so pleased that the
Soulforce Equality Riders are headed in his direction.
Read his letter and her reply.
Here's an update from the president of Wheaton after the Soulforce Riders got to their campus.
Spiritual Activism conference in Washington, D.C. May 17-20, 2006
Rabbi Michael Lerner, Editor of
Tikkun Magazine, rabbi of Beyt Tikkun synagogue in San Francisco, and author, The Left Hand of God
asks for help building an alternatve to the Religious Right -- before it's too late.
I'm The Decider
Turn your speakers on and listen to
this.
Rumsfeld's Rules
In case you wonder why Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acts as he does, read
Rumsfeld's Rules. For example, his first piece of advice for the Secretary of Defense is:
The Secretary of Defense is not a super General or Admiral. His task is to exercise civilian control over the Department for the Commander-in-Chief and the country.
Another is
If you get the objectives right, a lieutenant can write the strategy. (General George Marshall)
America Back On Track
In his new book
America Back On Track Ted Kennedy talks about
- Protecting our national security in a changing world.
- Reclaiming our constitutional democracy and keeping it vital for the future.
- Participating fully in a shrinking world.
- Creating an economy that works for all, not just a privileged few.
- Guaranteeing a good education and good health care for every American.
- Protecting our magnificent environmental heritage.
- Resuming the march of progress toward equal opportunity for all.
- Uniting America again for the future.
Bill Sinkford on Immigration Reform
The Rev. William Sinkford, president of the
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, issued the following statement on Immigration Reform:
People of many faiths have been moved by the current debate over the immigration and labor policies that present a profound dilemma for our nation. We are seeing that our willingness to ignore the injustices that maintain our economic system weakens the moral fabric of our society. We know that illegal immigration is driven by two factors: the prospect of economic opportunity for the newcomers, and the voracious need of American businesses for cheap labor.
Those of us lucky enough to be born into US citizenship can thank our ancestors, some of whom came here in bondage, but many of whom saw a shining City on a Hill and were inspired by its promise of freedom and opportunity. Today's immigrant workers are following that same beacon, and they come to this land filled with hope. That hope gradually dims, however, as they struggle to support loved ones back home while hiding in the shadows of US society. As years pass, family reunions are deferred and the American Dream is denied. In the meantime, our comfortable middle-class standard of living is secured at the price of these workers' hopes. As a result, America has, once again, created a permanent under-class of residents who are refused the dignity and civil protections that come with citizenship. To people of conscience, this situation is intolerable.
There are no easy answers, but the religious community is called to stand in solidarity with the oppressed. The dramatic sight of half a million immigrant families rallying in Los Angeles touched many of us with a heightened awareness of their plight. Our concern for family values needs to embrace these families as well. We are also called to acknowledge that racism has blinded most Americans to what takes place in our own kitchens, workshops, and fields. For our nation to be whole, we must acknowledge that our lives of privilege are supported in thousands of ways by people whose labor is invisible and whose suffering is hidden.
Each generation of Americans is called upon to define again who we mean when we say "We, the People." We must follow our conscience as we respond to this call. During this religious season, our thoughts and prayers are with our elected legislators as they struggle to revise our current immigration and labor policies. It is my deepest hope that their work will reflect the values of justice, equity and compassion for all.
I'd say this is a little more complex than it appears, because as Sinkford says, we're talking about people who have broken the law. I don't think we can ignore that - it needs to be put out in the open and addressed.
Sex Offenders Don't Deserve ...
Rev. Debra Haffner says
Sex Offenders Don't Deserve To Be Set Up For Murder ...
You may have seen the news this morning that two men with a history of sex offenses were murdered in two towns in Maine on Easter Sunday. Their names, home addresses, places of employment, and photographs were on the Maine sex offender registry. Last summer, two other sex offenders were hunted down by a vigilante in Washington State.
The Religious Institute stands firmly against violence against women and children and recognizes that child sexual abuse is a devastating social, personal, and public health problem. But I personally believe that computerized offender registries that don't differentiate between pedophiles and 17 year olds that have sex with 15 year olds -- and that basically provide a map to the homes where people who have served time and presumably have had treatment live -- offer little more than a false sense of security about sexual abuse prevention. ...
I agree. I detest pedophilia as much as anyone else. But I'd love to find out if there's ever been a study saying that registries really do accomplish their presumably preventative mission. Don't know how that could be measured, though.
I'm sure there are more than a few people who think sex offenders deserve to be shot on sight. And I think that's wrong.
A letter from Al Gore
Got a fund-raising email today from Al Gore on behalf of the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. I'm gonna guess he won't mind if I quote the beginning of it ..
In all my years of public service I have never witnessed national political leaders as corrupt, incompetent and subservient to powerful special interests as George Bush and the Republican Rubber Stamp Congress.
The level of cynicism and crass political calculation that characterizes the Bush White House and the Republican-controlled Congress is truly breathtaking.
Critical public policy issues -- from national security and global warming to public health and retirement security -- seem to be formulated solely on the basis of what will please the special interests most important to maintaining the Republican Party's stranglehold on the federal government. The needs of the American people be damned.
And this reprehensible behavior is aided and abetted by the complete and utter lack of oversight of the Bush administration by the Republican Rubber Stamp Congress.
Seven days from today, April 26th, will mark exactly 1000 days from George W. Bush's last day in office. I am here to tell you that we simply cannot afford to wait 1000 days to put the brakes on Bush's agenda.
Couldn't have put it better myself.
Peacemaking
Philocrates comments on the proposed study/action issue before this year's UUA General Assembly:
Should the Unitarian Universalist Association reject the use of any and all kinds of violence and war to resolve disputes between peoples and nations and adopt a principle of seeking just peace through nonviolent means?
His comments are worth reading; he refers to this as "an unusual and divisive proposal". This issue brings to the forefront my whole feeling on the concept of "peace".
My congregatation voted unanimously in favor of the UU study/action issue.
That's because I forgot to vote.
Unitarian Universalists (and lots of others) get a lot of self-satisfaction from the idea that we're "for peace" (whatever that means, exactly). Well, ain't we special. Imagine that! We're for peace! Not like all those other people.
But we're not happy just being in favor of peace. We have to spend our time telling other people that we're for peace, and we have to spend more time studying about how to be for peace. Like any of this has any effect on anything other than the fact that our arms are getting stretched from patting ourselves on the back so much.
Want to do something useful? Buy a sandwich for someone who's hungry. Spend a day helping to build a house for a homeless family at Habitat for Humanity. That will accomplish a lot more than all the posturing and peace demonstrating you could do in years.
NYT: Faith-Based Medicine
Episcopal priest Raymond J. Lawrence, in
The New York Times (free registration required), says ...
Responsible religious leaders will breathe a sigh of relief at the news that so-called intercessory prayer is medically ineffective. In a large and much touted scientific study, one group of patients was told that strangers would pray for them, a second group was told strangers might or might not pray for them, and a third group was not prayed for at all. The $2.4 million study found that the strangers' prayers did not help patients' recovery.
The results of the study, led by Dr. Herbert Benson, a cardiologist and director of the Mind/Body Medical Institute near Boston, came as welcome news. That may sound odd coming from an ordained minister. But if it could ever be persuasively demonstrated that such prayer "works," our religious institutions and meeting places would be degraded to a kind of commercial enterprise, like Burger King, where one expects to get what one pays for. ...
Pastoral Letter from the Rev. William G. Sinkford: In this season of rebirth, a call to people of conscience
From Rev. Bill Sinkford, the president of the
Unitarian Universalist Association ...
Dear Friends,
In the springtime people of all faiths reaffirm our connection to the earth and greet the returning light with hope and optimism. Passover, Easter and the Vernal Equinox all celebrate this season of hope. As I reflect on events of the past year I am mindful of why this season is so important, and I am especially mindful of our brothers and sisters, both in this country and in remote parts of the globe, who have endured natural disasters, war, and genocide. It is with their sufferings in mind that I find hope in the story from the Hebrew Scriptures that has inspired people for thousands of years.
The book of Exodus tells how a proud people were freed from bondage to an oppressive regime. The story of the Israelites' captivity and liberation is close to my heart this year because I heard echoes of this ancient tale when I visited refugee camps in Chad last November. Like the Israelites, the displaced people from the Darfur region in Sudan fled their oppressors, leaving behind their homes, possessions and, in many cases, family members. Driven out by violence, they did not even have time to prepare the unleavened bread that was made in haste by the Israelites and that is remembered in the Seder meal hundreds of generations later. As one refugee explained to me, "We escaped only with cloth." They had nothing but the clothes on their backs. Their portion was bitter herbs and salty tears.
Many of the exiles crossed the border into Chad, where their need and numbers overwhelmed the local villages. The sultan of the small town I visited explained that when he beheld the hungry, desperate newcomers, he knew instantly that there was no other option but to open the granaries and share his community's precious food stores. Like manna from heaven, this sustenance was given to the exiles as an act of grace. It was unearned and unexpected, but offered freely. The sultan's faith called him to welcome the Darfur refugees as honored guests. This noble man knows what we all know deep in our hearts: that we are called to shelter the homeless and to feed the hungry. Ours are the only hands on earth to make compassion real.
The suffering endured by the people of Darfur is beyond heartbreaking. But I find hope in knowing that we have the power to alleviate their misery and to stop the genocide. The ongoing atrocities in Sudan are a call to all people of conscience. Your congregation can help by joining the Save Darfur Coalition's?"Million Voices for Darfur Campaign" before it concludes on April 30th. Ours are the only hands on earth to make justice real. (see the links at http://www.uua.org/news/darfur/congaction.html and http://www.uusc.org/darfur/index.html for more information).
During this season of rebirth, when nature bestows her grace so freely upon us all, let us remember our brothers and sisters in exile who long for a peaceful home. Let us begin again in love by renewing our commitment to our most sacred calling. Ours are the only hands on earth.
In faith,
Rev. William G. Sinkford
President, Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Google Romance
We knew Google was planning on taking over the world (or at least the entire Internet), but we were still surprised to see the beta version of
Google Romance.
Shortly after I posted this message, I'm now hearing it's a Google Prank.
Gospel of Judas surfaces
The
New York Times reports ...
An early Christian manuscript, including the only known text of what is known as the Gospel of Judas, has surfaced after 1,700 years. The text gives new insights into the relationship of Jesus and the disciple who betrayed him, scholars reported today.
In this version, Jesus asked Judas, as a close friend, to sell him out to the authorities, which led to the Crucifixion.
Though some theologians have hypothesized this, scholars who have studied the new-found text said, this is the first time an ancient document defends the idea. ...
"People of Faith For Marriage Equality" banner
On April 2nd, 2006, after the 10:30 AM Service, we dedicated our
"People of Faith For Marriage Equality" banner at United First Parish Church in Quincy, MA. It's 34' by 4'.
