Midwestern Mugwump (mw)2

Ugh

The nicest thing that can probably be said about Pat Robertson's latest pronouncement is that he doesn't know what he is talking about.  Sure Chavez is an unsavory character, but the United States doesn't (and shouldn't) have a policy of assassination and Christians particularly shouldn't endorse that kind of idiocy.

"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson told viewers on his "The 700 Club" show Monday. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war."

Ugh.  I was in favor of the Iraq war, of being aggressive on terrorism, but this is just wrong.  There have to be better ways to fill airtime - including an apology.

Soaring Housing Prices Got You Down?

There was a moderately interesting piece in the Sun-Times on Saturday about "soaring home prices" - Prices Soar Through the Roof.  Except that it really wasn't.

Okay, there were some funny parts, such as when the artist identified the increasing gentrification of their neighborhood by saying.

"I looked out the window and saw someone walking their dog," she said. "That's a totally yuppie thing to do. This was the kind of neighborhood where the dog would have been tied up in the backyard."  or

It wasn't long after that that Slawinski looked out her window and started screaming: "Dick! There's a jogger!"

But other parts don't tell the story I'm looking for - so someone bought a house for $108,000 and added  $175,000 in improvements - is it really that surprising that 12 years later its worth just double that amount at $600,000?  Or, when someone buys a brand new 4,000 square foot house that it costs between $550,000 and $750,000? 

Ladies and gentlemen, 4,000 square feet is a VERY BIG HOUSE, no matter what neighborhood you live in.  I have a hard time developing much empathy for such a situation.  And subsidizing this type of house surely can't be where we're headed. 

But I really like this - "Its criminal."  "OK -- there's no law against it, but it's morally abhorrent. It's indentured servitude. It's wrong."  What??  I understand being concerned about the issues, but is this guy going to take less money on his house and sell to a firefighter?

That said, I don't understand the economics of the situation to know whether there is a 'vanishing middle class' here or there are other factors (more two income households?). 

There probably is a good story here, it just can't be told around 3,000-4,000 square foot houses.

Good in the Suburbs

CT has a very encouraging story about some Wheaton Academy who have raised almost $250,000 over the last several years for a mission in Zambia.

They started with a senior project to raise $53,000 and it slowly grew.  Its a great story of what evangelicalism can do right - and does more often than we might think.  The students struggled with the goal, with each other and ultimately prayed their way through the crisis.  A few quotes:

• But at first, practically no one was enthusiastic. It seemed unlikely they would raise even $10 from each student, and some were strongly opposed to this big ministry dream. Some students felt this new "God-sized" goal was sudden, unreasonable, and driven by guilt. Others asked why their resources should go to Africa, and especially to fighting a sexually transmitted disease like AIDS. Debates after chapel would often leave [Christy] Peed [the senior who started the project] in tears.
• "Each of us committed to pray every single day about it," Peed said, "and that's when the money started coming in." Those prayers changed not only their attitudes of fear and doubt toward the project, but also attitudes within the entire school—students, teachers, and administrators. The arguments ceased and a potent passion for Zambia ignited as hundreds of students mobilized to raise funds.
• World Vision's Frank said, "This thing has really grown my faith."

One could apply cynicism, but why not just turn it off for a second and be encouraged. 

Isn't this the Sky Actually Falling?

This seems like a complete disaster for the independence of the non-profit sector and the integrity of church state relations.  The idea that the state would have a substantial view into the financial workings (and with possible economic sanctions) of churches (not at the tax fraud margins, mind you) seems to me to a line that shouldn't be crossed.  I'm a bit surprised that the reaction hasn't been more vociferous.  The wall of separation is largely a terrible metaphor, but seems like a hole being blown wide open.  Maybe I'm just over-blowing things.

On the theoretical side of this concern - this is why Yale maintains the position that it does NOT enjoy a tax EXEMPTION from the state, but instead (because of its explicit mention in the state constitution) exists in a state of non-taxation.  The distinction being that exemptions are grants from the state and can be revoked, but a status of non-taxation has a higher standing and is not subject to legislative or (more particularly) regulatory revocation.  I would think, not being a First Amendment expert, that a similar tack is taken with church status.

At the end of the day, I can't imagine this would pass any form of constitutional muster, maybe that's why critics are composed about it.

How About Something Useful

Is it Congress or is it the Press?  FoxSports has an article about how John McCain thinks that there should be federal oversight of 'steroids' in sports.

Oh, good grief.  Fresh from the filibuster fight, we are all exercised over whether athletes use 'performance enhancing drugs.'  Know what - probably, but is it a federal concern - probably on the regulatory level, but is it a fancy Congressional hearing concern - NO. NO. NO.  Let the sports bodies sort it out - they are, after all, essentially SROs with a product to sell. 

I also liked this quote - "McCain said after the hearing that pro leagues would be expected to contribute money to USADA if it were to oversee their testing, but 'there may be a need for some federal funding as well.'"  REALLY - are you kidding?  Sure it isn't much funding, but given the money that is in professional sports, they can't find the money themselves. 

Does McCain need something to investigate - how about the enormous subsidies (at the state and local levels particularly) given to professional sports - now its a federal issue to help prevent them from ruining their own product.  Or start with the lockout.  You know what - use the USADA (that's United States Anti-Doping Agency, for you beginners) subsidy to bridge the gap between the NHL players and owners - at least it would result in the subsequent employment of a few hundred people.  I guess I should just shrug an admit that is much like many other federal and state subsidies of private enterprise, but the combination of grandstanding AND cash makes this particularly annoying. 

The United States Senate - the most annoying and useless body of which I'd most like to be a member. 

Christians at Yale (and other places)

I agree with GetReligion that the Times had a good beginning to a story, but then dropped it.  The story focuses on the Christian Union, which appears to be an umbrella organization that was just picking up steam as I was leaving YLS.  It does kind of veer off toward politics and 'influence' questions, which is unfortunate, though we evangelicals (in our pretty common use of that language) often only have ourselves to blame.  Of the several things going with the Christian Union, one is the establishment of study centers on each campus, which seem like great things, though incredibly difficult to keep going and to maintain some ongoing level of fidelity to orthodoxy. 

But it hitting the 'influence' theme (and in Christians using it), we miss a stronger (and less threatening) theme of engagement and integration.  These are the mission of the Harvey Fellows Program, overlooked (understandably) in the article.  There are lots of interesting questions here - both for reporters (who are probably overworked), but also for Christians who engage with these issues (these questions are not original with me)

• How is the language of "reclaiming the Ivy League for Christ" perceived by colleagues and others - isn't "Engaging the Ivy League with Christ" a more appropriate approach?
• How are articles like this perceived by others in the academy?
• Is engagement possible with being co-opted?  Or is even that kind of language to 'culture war-like'?
• What should we think of the way in which future financial security was portrayed in Tim Haven's decision to go to medical ?  (and this from a lawyer, so the question is directed at myself as much as anyone)
• What about all of those other Christian groups alluded to in the article? and not - like Rivendell at Yale?

Good start, though, but a little more legwork needed.

Economists Target Booze - An Unidentified Public Good?

Structured properly, the new Nobel-embraced alcohol tax, should leave Bainbridge alone, right?  Clearly, as economists they will understand that a properly focused taxation regime is the best model and will therefore target cheap beer in cans, wine coolers and flavored vodka instead of the good stuff that Bainbridge likes to drink.  In potentially reducing the market for this stuff, maybe there's a public good in there after all. 

Or maybe I'm just being snarkily optimistic.

Cutting Edge or Stale?

The SunTimes had this interesting story on Motorola's development of Carbon Nanotube Technology and its potential to produce clear, flat, large and cheap televisions.  According to the story there is a possibility to create 42 inch screens that would sell for $400.  I'm too cheap to pay more than a $1,000 for a television - I just can't do it. 

What is odd is that while the story was in Monday's paper and does appear to reference some current events (like an upcoming convention), but the latest mention on Motorola's site is from July, 2003. 

So is the story exceptionally stale or hugely cutting edge?  I'm leaning toward stale, but you never know.  I'm just hoping that my TV holds out long enough.

Chicago History

The SunTimes has an article about the on-line version of the Encyclopedia of Chicago.  Breeze through the article, but definitely go to the site (its so cool, its worth linking to twice).  Friend of the Blog - Jon Boyd - was a contributer.

Lucas and Capitalism

Instapundit quotes Jim Geraghty regarding George Lucas - its worth repeating:

Let me get this straight. With villains in Attack of the Clones that consisted of the “Trade Federation”, “Commerce Guild”, “Techno Union” and “Intergalactic Banking Clan”, etc., I’m being warned about the dangers of capitalism from a man who made perhaps more money from merchandising than any other man in history. I’m getting lectured about the dangers of greed from man who authorized, “C-3POs” breakfast cereal, “The Star Wars Christmas Special” featuring Bea Arthur’s musical number, and not one but two Ewoks made-for-TV movies.

I’m being warned about the dangers of technology, and the glory of primitive cultures like the Ewoks, who are able to defeat the ‘technological terror’ of the Empire, in what is supposedly an allegory of Vietnam. Technology is bad, soulless, dangerous, and dehumanizing. Mmm-hmm. This from a man who replaced a tall man in a hairy suit, a projecting the human-eyed loyalty and sadness of Chewbacca, with the CGI cinematic war crime that is Jar-Jar Binks. A man who tossed aside the Yoda puppet, the spaceship models, the stop-motion animation of the Imperial walkers to go all-computer-animation-and-green-screen, all-the-time.

I’m being warned about the dangers of a “you’re either with me or against me” attitude, and the viewing of the world in a black and white morality, from a filmmaker who has his villain dress entirely in black, choke the life out of helpless pilots, and blows up entire planets. This from a man whose nuanced moral view required an edit to make Greedo shoot first.

How true.  And I'll admit - I had action figures, sheets and perhaps pajamas from the Empire Strikes Back.  What can I say - its my generation - I was like 10 years old.