New Denomination of 35 Million!?!

I report and link. You decide. - ToK

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. - 2 Timothy 2:15

From a Telegraph [UK] article, Anglican Church offshoot founded by traditionalists in Jerusalem:

Anglican Church offshoot founded by traditionalists in Jerusalem [/] By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent [/] Last updated: 2:44 PM BST 29/06/2008

A new church representing almost half of the world's 80 million Anglicans has been officially formed, posing a serious challenge to the Archbishop of Canterbury. [/] The organisation created by traditionalists - called the Gafcon movement after the Global Anglican Future Conference which led to its creation - will retain ties with Dr Rowan Williams and will technically remain within the global Anglican Communion.

But it is also likely to lead to orthodox Anglicans severing all links with the main churches in America and Canada, whose liberal leaders are blamed for sparking the current crisis by breaking with the Bible's teaching and by consecrating openly gay clergy and blessing gay "marriages".

The movement's leaders will include at least two Church of England bishops as well as the heads of leading African, South American and Australian churches, and it is said to represent 35 million worshippers worldwide and so spell an end to the "colonial" domination of Canterbury.

Organisers of the Gafcon summit in Jerusalem who produced a statement declaring the formation of the "church within a church" were keen to state that it does not represent a complete split or schism in Anglicanism, and that they only want to preserve the faith's original intentions. [/] Their final statement stated: "We cherish our Anglican heritage and the Anglican Communion and have no intention of departing from it."

But they said that some parts of the Communion were using "false Gospel" to rewrite the Bible along liberal lines, forcing some dioceses to break with their leaders in America and Canada and join churches in Africa and South America. [/] And they claimed that the "colonial structure" of Anglicanism had failed to discipline those churches which had broken the rules by consecrating gay clergy and blessing same-sex unions. [/] They added that Anglican identity "need not be determined through recognition by the Archbishop of Canterbury", implying that they will carry on regardless of how their movement is viewed.

Together with a series of 14 proclamations called the Jerusalem Declaration, the Gafcon leaders announced the formation of a new Council of church leaders. [/] The statement said they should ratify the formation of a traditionalist North American province based on the existing Common Cause federation, which would declare independence from the liberal Episcopal Church.

Despite their claims not to have caused a schism, however, the sheer size of the church and the power of its leaders mean it will pose a serious threat to Dr Williams, who has been carefully trying to preserve unity and his role as the head of Anglicanism's 38 provinces since the divisions over sexuality began. It is considered by some the most significant event in the church since the Reformation. [/] He must now face a row over the introduction of women bishops at a meeting of the Church of England's governing body, the General Synod, this Friday, followed by a gathering of Anglican bishops from around the world at the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference later in July.

Most of the church leaders who are involved in Gafcon, including the outspoken Bishop of Rochester, the Rt. Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, are to boycott Lambeth, further eroding its claim to represent the whole of Anglicanism. [/] Traditionalists who do attend Lambeth, such as the head of the church in South America - the Archbishop of the Southern Cone, the Most Rev Gregory Venables - who has already taken conservative American dioceses under his wing, will use the opportunity to spell out to Dr Williams the demands of the new movement.

They say the split was triggered by clergy in the Episcopal Church - the main Anglican church in America - who in an attempt to reflect progressive ideas in society and make themselves relevant to younger churchgoers, began departing from the traditional Bible view that homosexuality is sinful. Some have denied the resurrection of Jesus Christ took place.
The Lambeth Conference of 1998 ruled that same-sex unions went against Scripture. But then five years later the Americans consecrated the openly gay Gene Robinson as the Bishop of New Hampshire while clergy in Canada began blessing gay "weddings".

An official investigation - the Windsor Report - ruled in 2004 they must not support gay clergy or same-sex unions but no disciplinary action was taken, while a "covenant" spelling out rules for Anglicanism and punishments for churches who break them has still not been adopted despite conservatives' demands. [/] In response to the crisis, some American clergy began opting out of the Episcopal Church and becoming ordained as bishops in African Anglican churches, which take a much stricter line on the Bible and sexuality. [/] The Episcopal Church responded by trying to oust conservative bishops and taking legal action to commandeer their churches, although a court ruled on Friday that breakaway congregations can keep their property. [/] When it was disclosed that most of the Episcopal leaders would be attending Lambeth this summer, many of the traditionalists around the world decided to boycott it and instead planned Gafcon as a way to meet and discuss how they could work together.

They were united in their outlook on the primacy of the Bible and their contempt for the liberals who are said to be "re-writing" the Bible.

But many also wanted to show the strength of the so-called Global South - the developing nations of Africa, Asia and South America where tens of millions of Anglicans live. [/] They hope the new church will spell an end to the centuries-old dominance of England over Anglicanism, which many at Gafcon view as a remnant of the British Empire, with Dr Williams this week dismissed as a colonial relic. [/] Some within the movement had demanded a complete "amputation" from Canterbury as the only way to preserve its integrity, but after a week of discussions in Jerusalem attended by more than 1,000 people including 300 bishops it was decided that the new movement should try to reform Anglicanism from within by reaffirming the primacy of the Bible.

Delegates at Gafcon said bishops "repeatedly leaped in the air" and were "weeping with joy" when they were read the text of the statement announcing the new movement.

The Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, said this week that the "sheer existence" of the Gafcon movement posed a challenge to the existing Anglican Communion but insisted the liberals had brought the split upon themselves. [/] "The American revisionists committed a strategic blunder in 2003. I don't think they believed there would be consequences. It was a horrific strategic blunder they committed and there are consequences. The consequences are unfolding and our churches are divided." [My ellipses and emphasis]

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas
Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

How to Pray for the USA:

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houfes of Congress have, by their joint committee, requefted me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to eftablifh a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and affign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of thefe States to the fervice of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our fincere and humble thanksfor His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the fignal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpofitions of His providence in the courfe and conclufion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have fince enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to eftablish Conftitutions of government for our fafety and happinefs, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are bleffed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffufing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleafed to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in moft humbly offering our prayers and fupplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and befeech Him to pardon our national and other tranfgreffions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private ftations, to perform our feveral and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a bleffing to all the people by conftantly being a Government of wife, juft, and conftitutional laws, difcreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all fovereigns and nations (especially fuch as have shewn kindnefs unto us); and to blefs them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increafe of fcience among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind fuch a degree of temporal profperity as he alone knows to be beft.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand feven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington

http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/firsts/thanksgiving/thankstext.html

Christian Decline & Rise of Islam

Bishop: Radical Islam is filling void left by collapse of Christianity in UK

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. - Psalm 20:7

From a Telegraph [UK] article, Radical Islam is filling void left by collapse of Christianity in UK:

Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali: Radical Islam is filling void left by collapse of Christianity in UK [/] By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent [/] Last updated: 5:11 PM BST 28/05/2008
The decline of Christian values is destroying Britishness and has created a "moral vacuum" which radical Islam is filling, one of the Church of England's leading bishops has warned. [/] The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, claimed the "social and sexual" revolution of the 1960s had led to a steep decline in the influence of Christianity over society which church leaders had failed to resist.

He said that in its place, Britain had become gripped by the doctrine of "endless self-indulgence" which had led to the destruction of family life, rising levels of drug abuse and drunkenness and mindless violence on the streets. [/] The bishop warns that the modern politicians' catchphrases of respect and tolerance will not be strong enough to prevent this collapse of traditional virtues, and said radical Islam is now moving in to fill the void created by the decline of Christianity.

His claims, in an article published in the new political magazine Standpoint, come just days after he accused the Church of England of failing in its duty to convert British Muslims to Christianity. [/] Dr Nazir-Ali claims in the new article that Britain, previously a "rabble of mutually hostile tribes", would never have become a global empire without the arrival of Christianity. [/] But he said the Church's influence began to wane during the 1960s, and quotes an academic who blames the loss of "faith and piety among women" for the steep decline in Christian worship. [/] He says Marxist students encouraged a "social and sexual revolution" to which liberal theologians and Church leaders "all but capitulated".

"It is this situation that has created the moral and spiritual vacuum in which we now find ourselves. While the Christian consensus was dissolved, nothing else, except perhaps endless self-indulgence, was put in its place."

The bishop, who faced death threats earlier this year when he said some parts of Britain had become "no-go areas" for non-Muslims, said Marxism has been exposed as a nonsense but went on: "We are now confronted by another equally serious ideology, that of radical Islamism, which also claims to be comprehensive in scope." [/] Asking what weapons are available to fight this new "ideological battle", the bishop said the values trumpeted by modern politicians such as "respect, tolerance and good behaviour" are "hardly adequate for the task before us".

"The consequences of the loss of this discourse are there for all to see: the destruction of the family because of the alleged parity of different forms of life together; the loss of a father figure, especially for boys, because the role of fathers is deemed otiose; the abuse of substances (including alcohol); the loss of respect for the human person leading to horrendous and mindless attacks on people." [/] The bishop added that Christian hospitality has been replaced by the "newfangled and insecurely founded" doctrine of multiculturalism, which has led to immigrants creating "segregated communities and parallel lives".

He said many values respected by society, such as the dignity of human life, equality and freedom, are based on Christian ones. But he warned that without their Christian backbone they cannot exist for ever, and that new belief systems may be based on different values. [/] "Radical Islamism, for example, will emphasise the solidarity of the umma (worldwide community of the Muslim faithful) against the freedom of the individual.

"Instead of the Christian virtues of humility, service and sacrifice, there may be honour, piety and the importance of 'saving face'." [/] In an implicit criticism of the Archbishop of Canterbury's recent claim that the adoption of some parts of Islamic law is unavoidable, Dr Nazir-Ali said: "Recognising its jurisdiction in terms of public law is fraught with difficulties precisely because it arises from a different set of assumptions from the tradition of law here."

He said that the Church of England must retain its importance in public life even if it does not remain privileged as the established church. [/] "It is necessary to understand where we have come from, to guide us to where we are going, and to bring us back when we wander too far from the path of national destiny." [/] Have your say: Do you agree with the Bishop of Rochester? [/] [[One response:]]

The Bishop of Rochester is absolutely right, as usual. [/] His view of the Anglican Communion as containing two very different religions is also unusually honest as well as true. [/] It is interesting that two much earlier bishops of Rochester were also honest and open about their opinions. One, John Fisher, was executed by Henry VIII. The other, Nicholas Ridley, was executed by Queen Mary. [/] [My ellipses and emphasis]

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

Candidates’ Communist Connections

Karl Marx's body lies a moulderin' in the grave,

But his ghost goes marchin' on!

(With deepest apologies to American terrorist, Civil War instigator, and believer in spiritual things, John Brown)

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. - Psalm 20:7

From an Accuracy in Media (AIM) article, Candidates’ Communist Connections:

The Candidates’ Communist Connections [/] AIM Column | By Cliff Kincaid | May 25, 2008

Senator McCain’s communist connections consist of bombing the communists during the Vietnam War and then being shot down, badly injured, captured, and tortured by them. On the other hand, Senator Barack Obama was mentored by an identified Communist Party member in Hawaii who had functioned as a Stalinist agent. That was before Obama developed cordial relationships with communist terrorists who openly supported the communist regime that tortured McCain and killed 58,000 of our fellow Americans.

Can we have some coverage of the contrast between the two candidates on Memorial Day? It’s not just a matter of McCain serving in the military and Obama not doing so. It’s a matter of which side they were on. [/] McCain was on the American side during the Vietnam War. He personally risked his life and carried out the U.S. policy of resisting the communist military conquest of South Vietnam. Obama had friendly associations with those who had been on the other side and they helped launch his political career in Chicago. Obama can’t solve this problem by occasionally wearing an American flag lapel pin.

Keep in mind that we are not talking about associating with those who simply opposed U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Obama’s friends, such as Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, cheered for a communist victory and visited Havana, Cuba and Hanoi, North Vietnam to bring that about. Like his comrades in the communist Students for a Democratic Society, Tom Hayden [[later longest lasting "Mr. Jane Fonda"]] of “Progressives for Obama” wrote a letter urging a communist military victory over the U.S. These were people who actually supported the enemy.

In the case of Frank Marshall Davis, Obama’s childhood mentor, we are dealing with someone who was on the communist side long before the Vietnam War. Davis supported Stalinist Russia even after the Hitler-Stalin pact. This relationship may help explain why Obama would leave Hawaii, associate with Marxist professors and attend socialist conferences in college (as he admits in his book, Dreams From My Father), and then associate with terrorists, communists, and socialists in Chicago, where he would launch his political career. Davis was a key influence over the young Obama, filling his head with anti-American thoughts. [/] Thanks to Joseph Farah’s WorldNetDaily and his excellent reporter, Jerome R. Corsi, many people are learning the basic facts about these relationships. Corsi covered the release of two reports on the subject through my America’s Survival, Inc. organization.

At our event, an audience member wondered what the media reaction would be if it were discovered that a Republican presidential candidate had been mentored by a Nazi or fascist during his growing-up years. You and I know that it would be enough of a story that the candidate would be forced from the race. The candidate would be peppered with questions about this relationship at every turn. Reporters would be scrambling to dig up more details about this relationship.

But rather than focus on Davis, some in the liberal media are making fun of McCain’s war injuries. Brent Baker reveals that, during a report on the release of McCain’s medical records, Dr. Jon LaPook asserted on CBS News that “people” notice that McCain is “not able to raise his arm” and think “doesn’t that look funny?” Baker asked, “Who thinks McCain’s limitation, caused by an attack on him after his plane crashed in North Vietnam and he was denied medical care, looks funny? In what circles does CBS’s doctor travel?” The answer, of course, is the circle of Obama’s friends, where veteran correspondent Linda Douglass has now ended up. She has taken a job as a press secretary and adviser to Obama and previously worked for CBS News, ABC News, and National Journal.

Significantly, the basic facts of the Obama-Davis relationship were originally disclosed by Professor Gerald Horne, a contributing editor of the Communist Party journal Political Affairs, who talked about Obama coming under the influence of Davis during a speech at the reception of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) archives at the Tamiment Library at New York University.

Horne, a history professor at the University of Houston, noted that Davis, who had moved to Honolulu from Kansas in 1948 “at the suggestion of his good friend [and secret CPUSA member] Paul Robeson,” came into contact with Obama and his family. As Horne describes it, Davis “befriended” a “Euro-American family” that had “migrated to Honolulu from Kansas and a young woman from this family eventually had a child with a young student from Kenya East Africa who goes by the name of Barack Obama, who retracing the steps of Davis eventually decamped to Chicago.”

However, in Obama’s 1995 book, Dreams from My Father, Frank Marshall Davis was identified only as “Frank.” Among other things, according to Obama’s own account, “Frank” told him that blacks had a reason to hate and that he should not believe all of that (expletive deleted) about the American way of life.

When one of Senator Hillary Clinton’s supporters brought up the issue of Davis’s influence over Obama, by circulating an article I had written for AIM about Davis playing the role of Obama’s mentor, he was pilloried by the left-wing blogs. The reaction suggests awareness that the role of Davis in the formation of Obama’s political views could sink the candidate. They are desperate to keep this information suppressed.

Horne is not the only significant figure to talk about the influence of “Frank” on Obama. Dr. Kathryn Takara of the University of Hawaii, who knew and interviewed Davis and wrote a dissertation on his life and career, confirmed to me that the “Frank” is, in fact, Frank Marshall Davis. [/] Takara, an Obama supporter, confirmed that Davis was a significant influence over Obama during the three or four years that he attended the Punahou prep school. These would have been the years 1975-1979. She said Obama had been introduced to Davis by his grandfather, Stanley Dunham, who considered Davis a “strong black male figure” and thought he exerted a “positive” influence over the young man in his high-school years.

[...] Yet, Obama has been open about some things—such as his past drug use. It is difficult to understand why he would not name “Frank” as Frank Marshall Davis simply because “Frank” drank or hosted people who did. It is apparent that Obama covered up his full name because of the notoriety surrounding Davis’s political views. Remember this was a black communist who stayed with the CPUSA even while others, such as Richard Wright and Langston Hughes, broke with it.

So how long will Obama’s cover-up persist? [/] There are many in the liberal and conservative media who want desperately to avoid this subject. The liberals want to protect Obama. The “conservatives” avoiding the subject don’t want to be accused of “McCarthyism” if they mention it. But thanks to Farah’s WorldNetDaily and other new media outlets, the story is coming out and won’t be ignored. [/] Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of the AIM Report and can be reached at cliff.kincaid@aim.org [My ellipses and emphasis]

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

'Grantsmanship' Distorts Global Warming Science!!!

(And other science, most egregiously in the case of the AIDS/HIV hoax. - see Delphi Adult Christian Fellowship poll: HIV: True Cause of AIDS?!?.)

I report and link. You decide. - J :)

From an American Thinker .com article, 'Grantsmanship' Distorts Global Warming Science:

'Grantsmanship' Distorts Global Warming Science [/] By Jerome J. Schmitt [/] May 21, 2008

Almost every day another species of plant or animal is "discovered" to be threatened by global warming. I read a new report concerning moose in Scandinavia that are unexpectedly "threatened" despite what researchers admit is a growing population. Penguins are in danger from loss of Antarctic ice even though the Antarctic ice-cap is known to be growing with colder temperatures recorded in the southern hemisphere in recent years according to NASA. Fortunately for these species -- which hitherto managed to survive and thrive on their own for hundreds of thousands or millions of years -- intrepid 21st Century researchers have arrived on the scene with Al Gore just in time to "rescue" them from climate change. How is it possible that such disparate species all around the globe are in such dire straits all at once?

Perhaps it has less to do with actual species' population trends and other such noisome facts and more to do with a novel nexus between the news-media and "grantsmanship" among academic researchers who have hit upon a winning formula: if one ties one's research project somehow -- even via the most tenuous and flimsy grounds -- to global warming, one's grant proposal will have much greater chance to be selected for funding, one's chances of appearing on 60 Minutes or NPR are greatly increased, and as a consequence of this positive PR for one's project, university and funding agency, one's grant is more likely to be renewed.

In contrast, if one continues to toil on relatively obscure scholarship where actual scientific data is important, trend lines have meaning, and logical debate is allowed, the chances of winning funding for one's work are greatly reduced. Scientists have learned therefore that they will be rewarded handsomely by identifying any tangential connection between their favorite studies and "global warming" alarmism. Like Pavlov's dog with a PhD.

Scientists are people too and, like anyone, crave a moment in the limelight, with his or her work celebrated in the news-media as being "relevant". Thus a moose expert who has toiled in anonymity for decades will find that if he or she mentions that the moose might be "threatened" by global warming, he or she is suddenly lionized by the media as another "expert" chiming in about the dangers of climate change (cf. first link above). And being an "expert", it is difficult for the layman (i.e. your average person who has not toiled for decades studying moose) to refute the assertion no matter how spurious the moose-expert's "science". We should acknowledge that even moose experts can be taken in by the anthropogenic global-warming hoax. A plant expert sees the moose expert win enormous attention and acclaim and thus inspired concludes "suddenly" that his or her favorite plant is somehow also affected by climate change in the hope of drawing similar positive attention -- and grant money.

[...] It is this newly formed iron triangle (reserachers/government/media) of grantsmanship, knee-jerk media coverage, federal research agency log-rolling and congress's desire to seem "relevant" by addressing a "global crisis" that creates more and more "discoveries" of species threatened by climate change. This nexus creates a screeching, noisy feedback loop that is distorting science and corrupting the processes that insure research quality. [/] In my view, it will take an august body like the National Academy of Science to step in to once again insulate science from politics. And even they might fail. We may be doomed, not by global warming, but by this iron triangle's distortions and fear-mongering that attempt to stampede our fellow citizens into foolhardy policies intended to “correct” an unfounded “crisis”. [My ellipses and emphasis]

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

N.J. Housewife Becomes Big Time Middle East Blogger!!!

(New York Times: A Living-Room Crusade via Blogging)

If you want to join the crusade, go to Armies of Liberation .com and sign the petition.

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. - Psalm 20:7

From a New York Times article, A Living-Room Crusade via Blogging:

A Living-Room Crusade via Blogging [/] By ROBERT F. WORTH [/] May 20, 2008

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Jane Novak, a 46-year-old stay-at-home mother of two in New Jersey, has never been to Yemen. She speaks no Arabic, and freely admits that until a few years ago, she knew nothing about that strife-torn south Arabian country. [/] And yet Ms. Novak has become so well known in Yemen that newspaper editors say they sell more copies if her photograph — blond and smiling — is on the cover. Her blog, an outspoken news bulletin on Yemeni affairs, is banned there. The government’s allies routinely vilify her in print as an American agent, a Shiite monarchist, a member of Al Qaeda, or “the Zionist Novak.”

The worst of her many offenses is her dogged campaign on behalf of a Yemeni journalist, Abdul Karim al-Khaiwani, who incurred his government’s wrath by writing about a bloody rebellion in the far north of the country. He is on trial on sedition charges that could bring the death penalty, with a verdict expected Wednesday.

Ms. Novak, working from a laptop in her Monmouth County living room “while the kids are at school,” has started an Internet petition to free Mr. Khaiwani. She has enlisted Yemeni politicians, journalists, human rights activists and others around the globe. Her blog goes well beyond the Khaiwani case and has become a crucial outlet for opposition journalists and political figures, who feed her tips on Yemeni political intrigue by e-mail or text message.

She says her campaign is a matter of basic principle. “This is a country that lets Al Qaeda people go free, and they’re putting a journalist on trial for doing his job?” she said. “It’s just completely crazy.”

But Ms. Novak does admit to a personal interest in the case. She and Mr. Khaiwani have become close friends, though they have never met, and neither speaks the other’s language. One of the charges against him is receiving a cellphone text message from her, as part of an alleged plot (which he denies) to aid the Houthi rebels in northern Yemen. [/]

“The penalty for this crime is usually death,” Mr. Khaiwani said during an interview at his home in the Yemeni capital, Sana, in January. A lanky 42-year-old with large, piercing eyes and a dark sense of humor, he has already been jailed four times by the authorities in connection with his journalism. Last year he was kidnapped and beaten by men he says were plainclothes police officers. [/] Mr. Khaiwani added, with a broad smile: “If you add to this my relationship with Jane Novak, it means the death penalty for sure.”

[...] It was after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that Ms. Novak, who used to work not far from the World Trade Center, first took an interest in the Arab world. “I thought it would be a good idea to write in the English-language Arabic press on subjects we could all agree on, freedom of the press, equality, stuff like that,” she said. [/] In 2004, she started her blog, www.armiesofliberation.com, adorned with a Stars and Stripes logo, and soon wrote an article defending Mr. Khaiwani, who was in prison. He wrote her a letter of thanks, addressing it to “Jane Novak, the American journalist and political analyst.”

[...] Moved by the letter, Ms. Novak started her first petition campaign on Mr. Khaiwani’s behalf. Through translators, the two began corresponding. [/] [...] It was months after their first letters before Ms. Novak could bring herself to tell Mr. Khaiwani that she was not, in fact, a journalist and political analyst, but a homemaker blogging on a laptop at home. “I didn’t want to tell you before, because I didn’t want you to lose hope,” she wrote. [/] [...] Since then, she has written numerous articles defending him in the Yemeni press. [/] [...] For Ms. Novak, the basic issue was freedom of speech. The Yemeni government has banned journalists from traveling to Saada and has tried to suppress coverage of the conflict.

[...] Ms. Novak, whose blog includes a strong counterterrorism focus, says that is a bitter irony. Yemen has a long history as a refuge for jihadists, and the Yemeni government has released numerous men convicted of terrorism charges. One of them, Jamal al-Badawi, is wanted by the F.B.I. for his role in Al Qaeda’s bombing of the destroyer Cole in Yemen in 2000, in which 17 American sailors were killed. Mr. Badawi was apparently returned to prison last fall after American officials protested.

[...] Ms. Novak readily admits that she is no expert, and that she cannot pronounce Arabic words properly. But she estimates that more than 2,000 Yemenis have contacted her since she began writing articles in 2004. She receives dozens of letters every month. Some are just a few words — “Thank you Novak don’t stop” — and some are long narratives of grief and anger. [/] [...] “Some say there’s no progress in the Middle East,” she said. “But if they could just see these people — they’re really modern heroes.” [My ellipses and emphasis]

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

FDR: A Thick-Skinned Democrat of Yesteryear!!!

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. - Psalm 20:7

From a Fox News .com election article, Lay Off My Wife:

Obama to Tennessee GOP: Lay Off My Wife [/] by FOXNews.com [/] Monday, May 19, 2008

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama, crying foul over a video made by the Tennessee Republican Party last week, said Monday that his critics should “lay off my wife.” [/] In the four-minute video produced by the state GOP and now available on YouTube, Michelle Obama is shown delivering a speech in February during which she said: “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country.” The ad then features Nashville voters saying why they are proud of their country. [/] Asked about the video Monday, Obama told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that it is “low class.” The front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination warned that the Tennessee GOP “should be careful” and said he finds it “unacceptable” for them to use his wife in a video.

“The GOP, should I be the nominee, I think can say whatever they want to say about me, my track record,” Obama said, with his wife sitting next to him. “If they think that they’re going to try to make Michelle an issue in this campaign, they should be careful because that I find unacceptable, the notion that you start attacking my wife or my family…. [/] “Whoever is in charge of the Tennessee GOP needs to think long and hard about the kind of campaign they want to run, and I think that’s true for everybody, Democrat or Republican…. [/] “But I also think these folks should lay off my wife,” he added. [My ellipses and emphasis]

From a hpol .org page, Campaign Dinner Address of [FDR]:

Campaign Dinner Address of Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
September 23, 1944. Washington, DC

These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala. Well, of course, I don't resent attacks, and my family doesn't resent attacks, but Fala does resent them. You know, Fala is Scotch, and being a Scottie, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers in Congress and out had concocted a story that I had left him behind on the Aleutian Islands and had sent a destroyer back to find him - at a cost to the taxpayers of two or three, or eight or twenty million dollars- his Scotch soul was furious. He has not been the same dog since. I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself - such as that old, worm-eaten chestnut that I have represented myself as indispensable. But I think I have a right to resent, to object to libelous statements about my dog. [My ellipses and emphasis]

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

In His Own Words!!!

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. - Psalm 20:7

Interview, church publication, June 2006:

“I believe that democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal values,” [...] “Social justice and national security are both universal values, values that may originate for some in their religious beliefs, but are shared by us all.” [/] “I think it is up to individual pastors and faith leaders to help guide religious Americans in prioritizing what is in their own holy books,” [...] ["]I’m always open to engage with others, even those who disagree with my positions, as long as the dialogue remains fair-minded and respectful.” [My emphasis.]

Speech, June 2007

Yet what we also understand is that our values should express themselves not just through our churches or synagogues, temples or mosques; they should express themselves through our government. Because whether it's poverty or racism, the uninsured or the unemployed, war or peace, the challenges we face today are not simply technical problems in search of the perfect ten-point plan. They are moral problems, rooted in both societal indifference and individual callousness – in the imperfections of man. [/] And so long as we're not doing everything in our personal and collective power to solve them, we know the conscience of our nation cannot rest. [My emphasis.]

Speech, June 2006:

Perhaps it was out of this intimate knowledge of hardship—the grounding of faith in struggle—that the church offered me a second insight. You need to come to church in the first place precisely because you are first of this world, not apart from it. You need to embrace Christ precisely because you have sins to wash away—because you are human and need an ally in this difficult journey.

It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity United Church of Christ on the South Side of Chicago one day and affirm my Christian faith. It came about as a choice and not an epiphany. I didn’t fall out in church. The questions I had didn’t magically disappear. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt that I heard God’s spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to God’s will and dedicated myself to discovering God’s truth.

That’s a path that has been shared by millions upon millions of Americans—evangelicals, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and Muslims alike; some since birth, others at certain turning points in their lives. It is not something they set apart from the rest of their beliefs and values. In fact, it is often what drives their beliefs and their values.

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

President Bumble?!?

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. - Psalm 20:7

From a Power Line blog .compost, "Please, sir, I want some more":

"Please, sir, I want some more" [/] May 19, 2008

During a rally in Roseburg, Oregon, this past Saturday, Barack Obama proclaimed: "We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK."

In his imagined future Obama assigns the American people the role of the poorhouse orphan beseeching Mr. Bumble: "Please, sir, I want some more." In his imagined future Obama aligns himself with Mr. Bumble. It's a remarkably strange platform for a major party presidential candidate to announce in the United States of America. [/] Posted by Scott at 2:29 PM [/] [My ellipses and emphasis]

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

"Another Gospel" (Gal. 1:6) Defined

From a forum thread:

{{___ What would be the simplest statement regarding what would constitute "another gospel" in your opinion?
{{___ Galatians 1:6-8 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not anotheBut though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.r; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. }}

The other gospel that Paul was writing against was one that required something in addition to the grace (unmerited favor) of Christ as the grounds or basis of salvation.

In the case of the Galatians the something else was circumcision.

But anything that man can boast about may change the Gospel (of grace) into another gospel.

As William Kelly said, the error of the Galatians is ubiquitous.

We are all, I believe, crypto-Galatians. It is all too human to find something that we can boast about in order to explain our blessings.

Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Jesus: Target of Liberal Hatred?!?

Say it ain't so, Mrs. Bill!

(With deepest apologies to Joseph Jefferson "Shoeless Joe" Jackson (Career batting av. - .356, 3rd highest), the Chicago White Sox, and Major League Baseball.)

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. - Psalm 20:7

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

If you still think it isn't Christ whom liberals hate, remember: They hate Falwell even more than they hate me.

From an Ann Coulter .com article, JERRY FALWELL, more follows:

JERRY FALWELL — SAY HELLO TO RONALD REAGAN! [/] May 16, 2007

No man in the last century better illustrated Jesus' warning that "All men will hate you because of me" than the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who left this world on Tuesday. Separately, no man better illustrates my warning that it doesn't pay to be nice to liberals. [/] Falwell was a perfected Christian. He exuded Christian love for all men, hating sin while loving sinners. This is as opposed to liberals, who just love sinners. Like Christ ministering to prostitutes, Falwell regularly left the safe confines of his church to show up in such benighted venues as CNN. [/] He was such a good Christian that back when we used to be on TV together during Clinton's impeachment, I sometimes wanted to say to him, "Step aside, reverend — let the mean girl handle this one." (Why, that guy probably prayed for Clinton!)

For putting Christ above everything — even the opportunity to make a humiliating joke about Clinton — Falwell is known as "controversial." Nothing is ever as "controversial" as yammering about Scripture as if, you know, it's the word of God or something.

From the news coverage of Falwell's death, I began to suspect his first name was "Whether You Agree With Him or Not." [/] Even Falwell's fans, such as evangelist Billy Graham and former President Bush, kept throwing in the "We didn't always agree" disclaimer. Did Betty Friedan or Molly Ivins get this many "I didn't always agree with" qualifiers on their deaths? And when I die, if you didn't always agree with me, would you mind keeping it to yourself?

Let me be the first to say: I ALWAYS agreed with the Rev. Falwell. [/] Actually, there was one small item I think Falwell got wrong regarding his statement after 9/11 that "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians — who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle — the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say, 'You helped this happen.'" [/] First of all, I disagreed with that statement because Falwell neglected to specifically include Teddy Kennedy and "the Reverend" Barry Lynn. [/] Second, Falwell later stressed that he blamed the terrorists most of all, but I think that clarification was unnecessary. The necessary clarification was to note that God was at least protecting America enough not to allow the terrorists to strike when a Democrat was in the White House.

(If you still think it isn't Christ whom liberals hate, remember: They hate Falwell even more than they hate me.)

I note that in Falwell's list of Americans he blamed for ejecting God from public life, only the gays got a qualifier. Falwell referred to gays and lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle. [/] No Christian minister is going to preach that homosexuality is godly behavior, but Falwell didn't add any limiting qualifications to his condemnation of feminists, the ACLU or People for the American Way. [/] There have always been gay people — even in the prelapsarian '50s that Jerry Falwell and I would like to return to, when God protected America from everything but ourselves. [/] What Falwell was referring to are the gay activists — the ones who spit the Eucharist on the floor at St. Patrick's Cathedral, blamed Reagan for AIDS, and keep trying to teach small schoolchildren about "fisting."

Also the ones who promote the gay lifestyle in a children's cartoon. [/] Beginning in early 1998, the news was bristling with stories about a children's cartoon PBS was importing from Britain that featured a gay cartoon character, Tinky Winky, the purple Teletubbie with a male voice and a red handbag. [/] People magazine gleefully reported that Teletubbies was "aimed at Telebabies as young as 1 year. But teenage club kids love the products' kitsch value, and gay men have made the purse-toting Tinky Winky a camp icon."

In the Nexis archives for 1998 alone, there are dozens and dozens of mentions of Tinky Winky being gay — in periodicals such as Newsweek, The Toronto Star, The Washington Post (twice!), The New York Times and Time magazine (also twice). [/] In its Jan. 8, 1999, issue, USA Today accused The Washington Post of "outing" Tinky Winky, with a "recent Washington Post In/Out list putting T.W. opposite Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche, essentially 'outing' the kids' show character." [/] Michael Musto of The Village Voice boasted that Tinky Winky was "out and proud," noting that it was "a great message to kids — not only that it's OK to be gay, but the importance of being well accessorized."

All this appeared before Falwell made his first mention of Tinky Winky. [/] After one year of the mainstream media laughing at having put one over on stupid bourgeois Americans by promoting a gay cartoon character in a TV show for children, when Falwell criticized the cartoon in February 1999, that same mainstream media howled with derision that Falwell thought a cartoon character could be gay. [/] Teletubbies producers immediately denounced the suggestion that Tinky Winky was gay — though they admitted that he was once briefly engaged to Liza Minnelli. That's what you get, reverend, for believing what you read in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Time magazine and Newsweek. Of course, Falwell also thought the show "Queer as Folk" was gay, so obviously the man had no credibility.

Despite venomous attacks and overwhelming pressure to adopt the fashionable beliefs of cafe society, Falwell never wavered an inch in acknowledging Jesus before men. Luckily, Jesus' full sentence, quoted at the beginning of this column is: "All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." [My ellipses and emphasis]

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

Our Unbelievably Brave New World!!!

With deepest apologies to William Shakespeare and Aldous Huxley.

O, wonder! / How many goodly creatures are there here! / How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world / That has such people in't! - Miranda in Shakespeare's "The Tempest" (V.i.181-4)

"Community, Identity, Stability" is the motto of Aldous Huxley's utopian World State. Here everyone consumes daily grams of soma, to fight depression, babies are born in laboratories, and the most popular form of entertainment is a "Feelie," a movie that stimulates the senses of sight, hearing, and touch. Though there is no violence and everyone is provided for, ... - Amazon review of Huxley's "Brave New World"

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. - Psalm 20:7

From a Breitbart .tv AFP video clip, "Transsexual Pageant Contestants Kiss Monkeys to Warm of Global Warming",Click to view (Seeing is believing):

[Captions:] Transsexual Pageant Contestants Kiss Monkeys to Warm of Global Warming

"Global warming is one of the most serious problems the world faces today."

Much more innocent fellowship with animals and big time beauty pageantry occurs in the video clip for those whose stomachs are not particularly weak.

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

POLL ToK Bible Against Death Penalty?!?

See linked scripture below, and: Vote! Make your opinion (or lack thereof) count!!

Vote at Christian AAA Bible Study Forum Thread 30343!!! (Choices and link also given after article below.) - Toto of Kansas.

Scripture and Links for Poll Choices

(Text is King James Version. Links are to containing chapters. Alternate versions may be easily selected if available at Bible Gateway .com.)

1. Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.

2. Matthew 22:39 Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

3. Romans 12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

4. Matthew 26:52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

5. John 12:47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.

6. John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

14. Genesis 9:5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. 6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

15. Romans 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

16. John 19:10Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

Poll Question: Bible Against Death Penalty?!? | Poll choices:

1. Yes. Thou shalt not kill. / 2. Yes. Love thy neighbour as thyself. / 3. Yes. Live peaceably with all men. / 4. Yes. Put up again thy sword. / 5. Yes. Not to judge the world, but to save. / 6. Yes. Kingdom is not of this world. / 7. Yes. All or most of 1 thru 6. / 8. Yes. / 9. Possibly. / 10. Possibly. Consider present day values. / 11. Possibly. Consider moral values. / 12. Possibly. Consider personal values. / 13. No. / 14. No. By man shall his blood be shed. / 15. No. He beareth not the sword in vain / 16. No. Power to crucify was from above. / 17. No. All or most of 14 thru 16. / 18. No opinion. Scriptures on both sides. / 19. No comment. / 20. No opinion. / 21. This poll is worthless. / 22. This poll is of negative value. / 23. Other.

Vote at Christian AAA Bible Study Forum Thread 30343! Vote!! Make your opinion (or lack thereof) count!!!

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

Minorities Cheating Radio Advertisers?!?

Say it ain't so, Jesse 'n Al!

(With apologies to Joseph Jefferson "Shoeless Joe" Jackson (Career batting av. - .356, 3rd highest), the Chicago White Sox, and Major League Baseball.)

Of course it is also possible that the cheating is being done by white liberals who are so conscience stricken over past injustices that they not only cheat in their listener diaries but also misrepresent their ethnicity to Arbitron.

Modern Technology (in the form of "People Meters") Marches On!!!

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. - Psalm 20:7

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

Other stations with high proportions of minority listeners were similarly affected. The urban adult contemporary station WBLS 107.5 dropped from No. 1 to No. 12. The urban contemporary station WRKS 98.7 fell from No. 3 to No. 9. [/] Previously, Arbitron had used paper diaries from sample listeners to determine ratings that were used to set prices for advertising. Under pressure to provide more detailed and accurate data, Arbitron has gradually swapped human memory for computer technology, in the form of pocket-size devices that detect radio frequencies to automatically determine which station is on.

Because advertisers purchase radio time by the ratings point, declines in reported listening could have serious effects on radio stations’ incomes. [/] Vinny Brown, the program director for WBLS, said people meters were “not a friend to ethnically designed radio stations. If we get hit with 30 or 40 percent loss of revenue, it will be difficult for us to remain in operation.”

From a New York Times article, New Way of Counting Radio Listeners May Cut Ad Income, more follows:

New Way of Counting Radio Listeners May Cut Ad Income [/] November 12, 2007 [/] By BRIAN STELTER

The test of a new method for measuring radio audience in New York showed big ratings declines for stations appealing to blacks and Hispanics last week, causing considerable consternation among station owners and programmers.

Arbitron, which measures ratings for the radio industry, has been testing a new electronic measurement tool that monitors exposure to radio stations throughout the day. The results of the so-called personal people meter in New York followed the pattern set by two earlier tests, in Houston and Philadelphia, in which stations appealing to minorities also fell.

The results also seem to echo a decline in ratings for minority television programs when Nielsen Media Research switched its measurement system in 2004. The change led to an intense lobbying effort by networks and some black leaders to postpone the widespread introduction of the new ratings system.

In Arbitron’s New York test, WPAT 93.1, a Spanish-language adult contemporary station, was ranked No. 7 in Arbitron’s summer ratings but fell to No. 19 in October’s personal people meter test among 25- to 54-year-olds. Sister station WSKQ 97.9 dropped from No. 4 to No. 7.

“No format changes were made. This is the same music, the same on-air personalities, and yet we’ve seen severe shifts in reported listening,” Frank Flores, the general manager of the WSKQ and WPAT, said.

[...] The test data won’t be used to set advertising rates until early next year. Still, the drastic ratings changes raised red flags about people meter methodology, and Arbitron agreed on Friday to have an independent board review the system in New York.

Tom Mocarsky, a senior vice president at Arbitron, said the declines at individual stations are a side effect of more precise measurements. Another interpretation is that a greater number of people are listening to more stations. According to diaries, the average African-American person in New York listens to radio 13.7 times a month. According to the people meters, the average number of listening occasions rises to 20.4.

“Your total time with radio is being divided among more stations and more occasions,” Mr. Mocarsky said. As a result, he said, each radio station’s share becomes smaller.

Mr. Mocarsky said Arbitron seeks a representative sample of each local market, with specific benchmarks for ethnic groups, genders and ages. He said the sample difficulties are most prominent not among races, but among age groups. [My ellipses and emphasis]

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

Just How Kooky Is the Fringe Left?!?

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. - Psalm 20:7

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

"[W]e see candidates who are willing to pander to this politically paranoid, hyper-partisan sentiment" [,,, / ...] "[T]he netroots often argue from anger rather than reason, and too often, their object is personal release, not political persuasion."

From a WSJ Opinion Journal .com "Best of the Web Today" entry, Strange Bedfellows (scroll down), more follows:

Strange Bedfellows [/] Sen. Joe Lieberman gave a speech yesterday in which he had tough words for the left wing of his party:

There is something profoundly wrong--something that should trouble all of us--when we have elected Democratic officials who seem more worried about how the Bush administration might respond to Iran's murder of our troops, than about the fact that Iran is murdering our troops.

There is likewise something profoundly wrong when we see candidates who are willing to pander to this politically paranoid, hyper-partisan sentiment in the Democratic base--even if it sends a message of weakness and division to the Iranian regime.

Jon Ward of the Washington Times reports on another speech yesterday that struck a similar theme:

Karl Rove teed off this afternoon on the liberal netroots, the coalition of far-left blogs and advocacy groups who are a new power bloc in the Democratic party. . . .

Mr. Rove cited the results of a study that found that writers and commenters on liberal blogs such as DailyKos.com cursed far more than writers and commenters on conservative Web sites such as FreeRepublic.com.

"My point is not that liberals swear publicly more often than conservatives. That may be true, but that's not my point," Mr. Rove said. "It is that the netroots often argue from anger rather than reason, and too often, their object is personal release, not political persuasion."

When Al Gore's running mate and George W. Bush's political strategist sound like echoes of each other, that gives you some idea of just how kooky the fringe left is.
[My ellipses and emphasis]

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

World Financial Sky Has Fallen!?!

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. - Psalm 20:7

When Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reported from Washington, he was head and shoulders above the local talent in uncovering and reporting facts about the reality of Clinton moral defects. He is now reporting facts and expert opinions on the extent of the current worldwide credit debacle.

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

Connolly says the Fed-led pack of central banks have made such a mess of capitalism by blowing credit bubbles (with low rates in the late 1990s and 2003-2006) that they now have no alternative other than to relaunch the "Ponzi Scheme", or risk depression.

This will have political consequences, of course. "The looming threat on the horizon, or just over it, is that the socialization of risk will be accompanied, in many countries, by the socialization of wealth," he said. [/] [...] "This rescue has back-fired. The central banks don't want anything to do with it. There is a fear that the big four US banks are trying to hide their debts," said Hans Redeker, currency chief at BNP Paribas.

[...] Even so, equities have not begun to reflect the reality that the 2006-2007 credit bubble has popped and cannot be easily reflated at a time of stubborn, lingering inflation. Spare me the mantra that the "fundamentals" are sound. Credit is the ultimate fundamental. [/] Woe betide Wall Street if the Fed fails to slash rates dramatically over the Winter, starting on October 31. [/] Woe betide the dollar if it does.

From a Telegraph [U.K.] blog article, The sky has already fallen, more follows:

The sky has already fallen [/] Posted by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard on 25 Oct 2007 at 12:36 [/] Ambrose has covered world politics and economics for a quarter century, based in Europe, the US, and Latin America. He joined the Telegraph in 1991, serving as Washington correspondent and later Europe correspondent in Brussels. He is now International Business Editor in London.

If you are a bear, you must accept that you will always be wrong in polite society, and you will continue to be wrong all the way down to the bottom of recession. That is the cross that bears must bear. [/] Over the last three months we have seen a rolling collapse of speculative debt and real estate across half the global economy, yet friends still come over to my desk at the Telegraph, with that maddening look of commiseration on their faces, and jab: "so when is the sky going to fall then, eh?" [/] Well, excuse me. The sky has fallen. The median price of new homes in the US has crashed from a peak of $262,6000 in March to $238,000 in September. (Commerce Department). This is a 9pc drop nationwide. [/] The slide in existing homes is catching up. They have come down from $229,200 to $211,700 in three months. (National Association of Realtors). Yet we have barely begun to see the default hurricane as teaser rates contracted in 2005 and 2006 on floating mortgages kick up venomously over the winter, peaking around in the Spring of 2008.

[...] In Britain, we have had the first bank run since the City of Glasgow Bank collapsed in 1878. The Fed has cut the interest rates a half point and vastly increased the pool of eligible collateral for Discount operations. The European Central Bank has injected over €400bn of liquidity in the biggest intervention since the euro was created. [/] Japan is in recession. Housing starts fell 23.4pc in July and 43.4pc in August. [/] The US dollar has fallen below parity with the Canadian Loonie for the first time since 1976, and to all-time lows on the global dollar index.

All it will take now for a full-fledged rout is a move by the Saudi and Gulf states to break their dollar pegs, which they may have to do to prevent imported US inflation causing havoc; or for the Asian banks stop buying US Treasuries - as Vietnam, Singapore, Korea, and Taiwan, have gingerly begun to do. [/] What more do you want? [/] It is true that stock markets have once again decoupled from the realities of the debt markets. But they did this in the early summer, when the Bear Stearns debacle was already well under way. They caught up famously in August.

Nobody I talk to in the City credit trenches believes for one moment that the crunch is safely over. Indeed, they think that we are edging back to extreme stress levels, and the longer it goes on, the worse the damage. [/] [...] Once you go down the chain, the picture changes fast. The iTraxx Crossover index measuring spreads on mid to low-grade corporate debt has jumped 100 basis points or so in the last week to around 360. It costs companies 1.8pc more to borrow than it did in the halcyon days of the credit bubble in February, if they can borrow at all. [/] The ABX indexes measuring subprime debt - those infamous CDO packages of mortgages sliced and diced, and sold to German pension funds and Japanese insurers with a lot of lipstick -- are still falling to record lows.

[...] This means that the toxic BBB tier has lost almost four fifths of its value. Even the AA has lost a third. [/] Now, remember that the total stock of subprime and Alt-A (close kin) debt issued from early 2005 to early 2007 amounts to $2 trillion. Ben Bernanke's estimate that losses would be $100bn looks wildly optimistic.

[...] These SIVs (structured investment vehicles) are 'conduits' - in City argot - that allow banks to juice profits by speculating off books on high-risk debt. They borrow short (three to six months) to invest long (five years of so), making money on the interest arbitrage. Until the game blows up, of course. [/] Some $370bn still needs to be rolled over, and there lies the rub. The strong suspicion is that Hank Paulson's $75bn SIV rescue for the big four US banks is intended to cover up the problem by feeding out losses slowly, rather than allowing firesales to cause a cascade. [/] As the Bank of England warned, the Super-Siv should not be used to prop up fictitious valuations. [/] "It stinks, as does the Treasury's sponsorship of the scheme. It seems designed to prevent price discovery." says Bernard Connolly, global strategist for Banque AIG.

Connolly says it resembles the slippery practices at the start of the Bear Stearns debacle, when creditors quickly abandoned attempts to force CDO sales by the Bear Stearns hedge funds as soon as they realized that prices were collapsing - exposing the awful truth that hundreds of billions were falsely valued on books. [/] Nauseating though Paulson's MLEV -- 'Master Liquidity Enhancement Conduit' - may be, it probably has to be done. [/] [...] 39 comments [My ellipses and emphasis]

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

Cyber-Space: A False Religion?!?

I report and link. You decide. - ToK

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. - 2 Timothy 2:15

From a New York Times article, The Outsourced Brain:

The Outsourced Brain [/] October 26, 2007 [/] Op-Ed Columnist [/] By DAVID BROOKS

The gurus seek bliss amidst mountaintop solitude and serenity in the meditative trance, but I, grasshopper, have achieved the oneness with the universe that is known as pure externalization. [/] I have melded my mind with the heavens, communed with the universal consciousness, and experienced the inner calm that externalization brings, and it all started because I bought a car with a G.P.S.

Like many men, I quickly established a romantic attachment to my G.P.S. I found comfort in her tranquil and slightly Anglophilic voice. I felt warm and safe following her thin blue line. More than once I experienced her mercy, for each of my transgressions would be greeted by nothing worse than a gentle, “Make a U-turn if possible.” [/] After a few weeks, it occurred to me that I could no longer get anywhere without her. Any trip slightly out of the ordinary had me typing the address into her system and then blissfully following her satellite-fed commands. I found that I was quickly shedding all vestiges of geographic knowledge.

It was unnerving at first, but then a relief. Since the dawn of humanity, people have had to worry about how to get from here to there. Precious brainpower has been used storing directions, and memorizing turns. I myself have been trapped at dinner parties at which conversation was devoted exclusively to the topic of commuter routes. [/] My G.P.S. goddess liberated me from this drudgery. She enabled me to externalize geographic information from my own brain to a satellite brain, and you know how it felt? It felt like nirvana. [/] Through that experience I discovered the Sacred Order of the External Mind. I realized I could outsource those mental tasks I didn’t want to perform. Life is a math problem, and I had a calculator. [/] Until that moment, I had thought that the magic of the information age was that it allowed us to know more, but then I realized the magic of the information age is that it allows us to know less. It provides us with external cognitive servants — silicon memory systems, collaborative online filters, consumer preference algorithms and networked knowledge. We can burden these servants and liberate ourselves.

Musical taste? I have externalized it. Now I just log on to iTunes and it tells me what I like. [/] I click on its recommendations, sample 30 seconds of each song, and download the ones that appeal. I look on my iPod playlist and realize I’ve never heard of most of the artists I listen to. I was once one of those people with developed opinions about the Ramones, but now I’ve shed all that knowledge and blindly submit to a mishmash of anonymous groups like the Reindeer Section — a disturbing number of which seem to have had their music featured on the soundtrack of “The O.C.”

Memory? I’ve externalized it. I am one of those baby boomers who are making this the “It’s on the Tip of My Tongue Decade.” But now I no longer need to have a memory, for I have Google, Yahoo and Wikipedia. Now if I need to know some fact about the world, I tap a few keys and reap the blessings of the external mind. [/] Personal information? I’ve externalized it. I’m no longer clear on where I end and my BlackBerry begins. When I want to look up my passwords or contact my friends I just hit a name on my directory. I read in a piece by Clive Thompson in Wired that a third of the people under 30 can’t remember their own phone number. Their smartphones are smart, so they don’t need to be. Today’s young people are forgoing memory before they even have a chance to lose it.

Now, you may wonder if in the process of outsourcing my thinking I am losing my individuality. Not so. My preferences are more narrow and individualistic than ever. It’s merely my autonomy that I’m losing. [/] I have relinquished control over my decisions to the universal mind. I have fused with the knowledge of the cybersphere, and entered the bliss of a higher metaphysic. As John Steinbeck nearly wrote, a fella ain’t got a mind of his own, just a little piece of the big mind — one mind that belongs to everybody. Then it don’t matter, Ma. I’ll be everywhere, around in the dark. Wherever there is a network, I’ll be there. Wherever there’s a TiVo machine making a sitcom recommendation based on past preferences, I’ll be there. Wherever there’s a Times reader selecting articles based on the most e-mailed list, I’ll be there. I’ll be in the way Amazon links purchasing Dostoyevsky to purchasing garden furniture. And when memes are spreading, and humiliation videos are shared on Facebook — I’ll be there, too. [/] I am one with the external mind. Om. [My ellipses and emphasis]

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

Has Rock and Roll Ruined Everything?!?

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. - Psalm 20:7

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

Bloom distills rock lyrics into three dominant themes: “sex, hate and a smarmy, hypocritical version of brotherly love.” First the sex: “The sexual revolution must overthrow all the forces of domination, the enemies of nature and happiness. From love comes hate, masquerading as social reform. A worldview is balanced on the sexual fulcrum. What were once unconscious or half-conscious childish resentments become the new Scripture. And then comes the longing for the classless, prejudice-free, conflictless, universal society that necessarily results from liberated consciousness—‘We Are The World.’”

From a New Criterion article, Twenty years ago today, more follows:

Counterpoints: 25 years of The New Criterion on culture and arts [/] Twenty years ago today [/] By Mark Steyn

We are all rockers now. National Review publishes its own chart of the Fifty Greatest Conservative Rock Songs, notwithstanding that most of the honorees are horrified to find themselves on such a hit parade. The National Review countdown of the All-Time Hot 100 Conservative Gangsta Rap Tracks can’t be far away. Even right-wingers want to get with the beat and no-one wants to look like the wallflower who can’t get a chick to dance with him. To argue against rock and roll is now as quaintly irrelevant as arguing for the divine right of kings. It was twen- ty years ago today, sang the Beatles forty years ago today, that Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play. Well, it was twenty years ago today—1987—that Professor Bloom taught us the band had nothing to say.

I don’t really like the expression “popular culture.” It’s just “culture” now: there is no other. “High culture” is high mainly in the sense we keep it in the attic and dust it off and bring it downstairs every now and then. But don’t worry, not too often. “Classical music,” wrote Bloom, “is now a special taste, like Greek language or pre-Columbian archaeology. Thirty years ago [i.e., now fifty years ago], most middle-class families made some of the old European music a part of the home, partly because they liked it, partly because they thought it was good for the kids.” Not anymore. If you’d switched on TV at the stroke of midnight on December 31, 1999 you’d have seen President and Mrs. Clinton and the massed ranks of American dignitaries ushering in the so-called new millennium to the strains of Tom Jones singing “I’m gonna wait till the midnight hour/ That’s when my love comes tumblin’ down.” Say what you like about JFK, but at least Mrs. Kennedy would have booked a cellist.

“Popular culture” is more accurately a “present-tense culture”: You’re celebrating the millennium but you can barely conceive of anything before the mid-1960s. We’re at school longer than any society in human history, entering kindergarten at four or five and leaving college the best part of a quarter-century later—or thirty years later in Germany. Yet in all those decades we exist in the din of the present. A classical education considers society as a kind of iceberg, and teaches you the seven-eighths below the surface. Today, we live on the top eighth bobbing around in the flotsam and jetsam of the here and now. And, without the seven-eighths under the water, what’s left on the surface gets thinner and thinner.

So the “Music” chapter is the most difficult one for young fans of The Closing Of The American Mind—because it’s the point at which you realize just how much Allan Bloom means it. And by “young fans,” I mean anyone under the age of Mick Jagger, who features heavily in that section. A couple of years ago, Sir Mick—as he now is—spent an agreeable hour being interviewed by a pleasant lady he’d carelessly assumed had been dispatched by one of the hip young magazines surfing the cutting edge of the zeitgeist. He was furious to discover subsequently that she was an emissary from Saga, the magazine for British seniors. They put him on the cover as the Pensioner of the Month, and he wasn’t happy about it, although one could see their point: When you think about it, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” makes a much better anthem for seniors than it ever did for rebellious youth. He should be grateful they didn’t send their medical correspondent: “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.” “Well, it’s a common problem at your age. But the good news is that often it’s just psychological.” Twenty years on from Allan Bloom, this is the triumph of rock’s pseudo-revolution: elderly “street-fighting men” with knighthoods—Sir Mick Jagger, Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Sir Bob Geldof, Sir Bono.

[...] Yet, in the course of a day, any number of non-rock-related transactions are accompanied by rock music. I was at the airport last week, sitting at the gate, and over the transom some woman was singing about having two lovers and being very happy about it. And we all sat there as if it’s perfectly routine. To the pre-Bloom generation, it’s very weird—though, as he notes, “It may well be that a society’s greatest madness seems normal to itself.” Whether or not rock music is the soundtrack for the age that its more ambitious proponents tout it as, it’s a literal soundtrack: it’s like being in a movie with a really bad score.

[...] So Bloom is less concerned with music criticism than with what happens when a society’s incidental music becomes its manifesto. The key to what’s happened is in the famous first sentence of the book. “There is,” writes the author, “one thing a professor can be absolutely certain of: almost every student entering the university believes, or says he believes, that truth is relative.” To quote the African dictator in a Tom Stoppard play, a relatively free press is a free press run by one of my relatives. A relative culture ends up ever shorter of any relatives to relate to. In educational theory, it’s not about culture vs. “counter-culture” but rather what I once called lunch-counterculture: It’s all lined up for you and you pick what you want. It’s the display case of rotating pies at the diner: one day the student might pick Milton, the next Bob Dylan. But, if Milton and Bob Dylan are equally “valid,” equally worthy of study, then Bob Dylan will be studied and Milton will languish. And so it’s proved, most exhaustively, in music.

[...] Allan Bloom quotes Gotthold Lessing on Greek sculpture: “Beautiful men made beautiful statues, and the city had beautiful statues in part to thank for beautiful citizens.” “This formula,” writes Bloom, “encapsulates the fundamental principle of the esthetic education of man. Young men and women were attracted by the beauty of heroes whose very bodies expressed their nobility. The deeper understanding of the meaning of nobility comes later, but is prepared for by the sensuous experience and is actually contained in it.”

What happens when, instead of beautiful men making beautiful statues, angry men make angry songs? “Keepin’ it real,” in the current black vernacular, means the rapper Nelly making a video in which he swipes a credit card through his ho’s butt. “Keepin’ it real” means songs in which men are “angry” (as John Kerry says) and violent and nihilistic, and women are “sluts, bobbing chicken heads, and of course bitches.” “Authenticity” is surely a more reductive view of the black experience than your average nineteenth-century minstrel show ever attempted. I think we can guess how Nat “King” Cole would have felt about gangsta rap. Duke Ellington has more in common with Ravel than with Snoop Dogg. Scott Joplin had far more reason to be “angry” than any hip-hopper but he didn’t put it in the music. To eliminate a century and a half’s tradition of beauty and grace from your identity isn’t “keepin’ it real,” it’s keepin’ it unreal in deeply unhealthy ways. [/] Rap is, of course, an outlier, as the statisticians say, but it illustrates what happens when pop culture becomes unmoored from its inheritance, and can only justify itself in social terms.

[...] Recall Bloom’s list of what he calls “the three great lyrical themes: sex, hate and a smarmy, hypocritical version of brotherly love.” That’s not a critique of pop music but of society as a whole. First, sex: The narcissism and self-gratification of adolescent romance—the “slavery to self,” as Professor Robert P. George called it, that Bloom asks us to rise above—is now presumed to be the only basis of true fulfillment in the modern world. Then, hate: the bogus “social reform” that’s little more than a bit of cover for trashing the past. And finally, the “smarmy, hypocritical brotherly love,” the sappy one-worldism in which we sing songs about global brotherhood in order to avoid having to give a thought to the world.

This is the heart of the Bloom critique that “such polluted sources issue in a muddy stream where only monsters can swim. It is of historic proportions that a society’s best young and their best energies should be so occupied. People of future civilizations will wonder at this and find it as incomprehensible as we do the caste system, witch-burning, harems, cannibalism and gladiatorial combats.” Confronted by these sentiments, many young readers just shrug: The old man doesn’t get it. Not his fault. He’s just old. In a way, their reaction or lack of it vindicates his final point: “As long as they have the Walkman on, they cannot hear what the great tradition has to say. And, after its prolonged use, when they take it off, they find they are deaf.” He’s mouthing away but they can’t hear. Like Britney when the lip-synching goes awry.

[...] Shorn of the other seven-eighths of the iceberg, the present-tense culture is insufficient. At my local school in New Hampshire, the music teacher eschews the classics and teaches boomer rock, much to the bemusement of her young charges for whom forty-year-old pop songs are as remote as 400-year-old sonatas. Children are asked to pick a favorite Beatle. Why would a six-year-old have such a thing? The Fab Four split up thirty years before he was born. It’s like my old music teacher asking me to pick my favorite member of Paul Whiteman’s Yacht Club Boys. [/] But she never did. And that’s the biggest difference between 2007 and 1987. What Allan Bloom observed in his students can now be found in the teachers. [/] This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 26, November 2007, on page 18 [My ellipses and emphasis]

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

Election Coverage: Biased Fluff?!?

Say it ain't so, media mogulhs!

(With apologies to Joseph Jefferson "Shoeless Joe" Jackson (Career batting av. - .356, 3rd highest), the Chicago White Sox, and Major League Baseball.)

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. - Psalm 20:7

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

The public pines for substance. A separate survey found that 77 percent of the respondents said they wanted more solid information on candidate policies and ideas. The press did not deliver.

Instead, almost two-thirds of the coverage focused on the "game" of the political horse race and candidate "performance." Accounts of their marriages, health and religion followed in importance in 17 percent of the stories — with just 15 percent examining domestic and foreign policies. A mere 1 percent shed light on candidates' public records.

From a Washington Times article, Slant seen in '08 race coverage, more follows:

Slant seen in '08 race coverage [/] Article published Oct 29, 2007 [/] By Jennifer Harper

Campaign coverage of the 2008 presidential election has been both biased and shallow, according to a study released today by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. [/] One party dominates, and there's way too much partisan fluff.

Numbers reveal all: Democratic candidates were the subject of half of the 1,742 recent print, broadcast and online news stories analyzed in the research. Republicans garnered 31 percent. [/] "Overall, Democrats received more positive coverage than Republicans (35 percent of stories versus 26 percent), while Republicans received more negative coverage than Democrats (35 percent versus 26 percent)," the study said.

The public pines for substance. A separate survey found that 77 percent of the respondents said they wanted more solid information on candidate policies and ideas. The press did not deliver. [/] Instead, almost two-thirds of the coverage focused on the "game" of the political horse race and candidate "performance." Accounts of their marriages, health and religion followed in importance in 17 percent of the stories — with just 15 percent examining domestic and foreign policies. A mere 1 percent shed light on candidates' public records.

"The press and the public are not on the same page when it comes to priorities in campaign coverage," the study said. "This disparity indicates there is room for the press to calibrate its coverage differently to make it more useful and possibly more interesting to citizens." [/] Indeed. More than half the public wants more insight into candidate debates, sources of campaign money and the lesser-known White House hopefuls. Of 18 candidates running, 52 percent of the coverage went to just five of them: Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois fixated press interest, garnering 17 percent and 14 percent of the total coverage, respectively. [/] Three Republicans followed: Rudolph W. Giuliani with 9 percent, Sen. John McCain of Arizona (7 percent) and Mitt Romney (5 percent). [/] Contenders, such as Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee, were featured in only a dozen stories; Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio Democrat, scored just one. Even John Edward's wife, Elizabeth, got more coverage than 10 of the candidates, the study found.

Mr. Obama was the media darling: 47 percent of the stories about him were positive, compared with 27 percent for Mrs. Clinton. Mr. McCain got the most press abuse. Just 12 percent of the stories about him were positive in tone.

The public, meanwhile, has only tepid reviews for it all, with a majority — 53 percent — rating the news coverage only fair to poor. The fault could lie in journalism's focus on insider politics. [/] "Just 12 percent of stories impact ordinary citizens," the study said. "By contrast, 86 percent of the stories were produced in a way that largely focused on how the politician's chances of election would be affected." [/] The stories were analyzed between January and May; the survey of 1,000 adults was conducted Sept. 28 to Oct. 1, with a margin of error of three percentage points. [My ellipses and emphasis]

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays

Katrina Drives Louisiana Republican?!?

It's All Bush's Fault!?!

N.B. Italics have been used in the article indicate clearly the obvious bias. Good news for conservatives and Republicans is bad news for these folks and must be qualified by their conceits.

I report and link. You decide. - BJon

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. - Psalm 20:7

From an Economist .com article, Bucking a trend:

Louisiana [/] Bucking a trend [/] Oct 25th 2007 | NEW ORLEANS [/] From The Economist print edition

Some rare good news for Republicans in the shape of a governor [/] WHEN it comes to the business of elections, Louisiana likes to confound conventional wisdom. While most of its Southern neighbours were busy electing Republicans during the early 2000s, Louisiana stubbornly returned a Democrat, Mary Landrieu, to the Senate in 2002, and put another one, Kathleen Blanco, in the governor's mansion in 2003. Now, as Republican fortunes have sagged across the nation—in no small part because of the Bush administration's failure to cope with Hurricane Katrina's devastation of Louisiana's coast in 2005—the [[Republican]] party is having a banner year in the state.

N.B. Amazing!!! The Republican national government messed up horribly in Loisianna's hour of need so the people closest to the event turn to the Republicans for better governance?!? Do they themselves really believe this nonsense?!?

Atop the scorecard is the Republicans' reclamation of the governorship, in a rare primary-election victory by the 36-year-old Bobby Jindal on October 20th. Unusually, Louisiana holds a combined primary for all candidates, Democrat and Republican, with the top two vote-winners going forward to a run-off. Even more unusual is for a candidate to win outright on the first round, which is what Mr Jindal managed, polling an impressive 54% of the primary vote. Perhaps most remarkable of all is that Mr Jindal, who is Indian-American as well as very young, has overturned what had been supposed to be deep-seated prejudice. Four years ago, his defeat by Ms Blanco was widely viewed as proof that the state's “Bubbas”—rednecks uncomfortable with politicians who don't look like them—had not evolved. [/] But just four years later, Bubba seems to have granted Mr Jindal, whose given name is Piyush, honorary redneck status. (Four years ago, bumper stickers appeared with the slogan “Bubbas for Bobby”, but the message has taken a long time to sink in.)

Mr Jindal is something of a paradox. He is the first non-white governor since Reconstruction; he is a Rhodes scholar; he is the nation's youngest governor. In other words, he's a breath of fresh air, a sign of progress who promises to eradicate corruption in what many say is America's worst-governed state. On the other hand, he is a religious conservative who was as reliable a rubber-stamp as George Bush had in Congress, refusing to make a fuss even when Republicans there were blaming New Orleans for Katrina. Not all of the air is fresh.

Mr Jindal's victory is only the icing on the cake. The Republicans are expected to take five of the six elected state offices in Louisiana when the run-off votes are counted next month. [/] And next year the Democrats' top officeholder, Ms Landrieu, looks like facing an uphill battle. When she was last elected, in 2002, she won in large part thanks to a landslide in her home city, heavily Democratic New Orleans. Whereas the city's predilections haven't changed dramatically, its size has, and its electoral significance along with it. In 2002 almost 133,000 New Orleanians voted in the Senate race. On October 20th less than 60% of that number turned up at the polls, a sign of the city's post-Katrina shrinkage. Ms Landrieu won New Orleans by almost 80,000 votes in 2002, twice her overall margin of victory. This time, that was more votes than all the candidates got combined in the city that was once the alpha and the omega of Louisiana politics. [My ellipses and emphasis]

Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas | Link to my Blogs, Forums & Essays