This and That

Justice in America?

Is this politics as usual?

…the Barrett report’s shocking allegations of high-level corruption in the Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department are likely to be concealed from the public and from Congress.

A recently passed appropriations bill, intended to permit release of this report, was altered behind closed doors to ensure that its politically combustible elements never saw the light of day.

That investigation would be a long walk into the unknown, with possibly far-reaching consequences. Prominent Democrats in Congress have spent much of the last decade in a campaign, successful so far, to suppress Barrett’s report. Its disclosures could dig deeply into concealed scandals of the Clinton administration.

I know — this makes the Democrats look bad.

I’m not entirely persuaded the Republicans are superior.

So why do I call attention to this story here?

I don’t know.

Commendable Muslim Defense?

I like this story:

Volunteers from Indonesia’s largest Islamic organisation will guard churches across the world’s most populous Muslim nation on Christmas amid fears of terrorist attacks on those places, the group said on Friday.

A youth wing affiliated with Indonesia’s largest Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama, some 40 million strong, said that members would guard churches for the coming Christmas festivities….

Way to go, young folks!

Tsunami in Asia

No, this isn’t breaking news:

It’s been nearly a year since the tsunami devastated southeast Asia. Thousands of people were killed, thousands were left homeless, and thousands continue to be in need today.

Open Doors USA’s Carl Moeller explains. “Tens of thousands of communities are still wiped off the map with virtually no infrastructure remaining. And, we along with other agencies are continuing to find new pockets of just personal devastation throughout the tsunami areas.”

It’s broken news.

Should we care anymore? Do we care anymore?

If you care, I have a recommendation: Christian Aid Ministries.

Food Fight (and More)!

In Hong Kong:

A transatlantic row on food aid boiled over and anti-globalisation protesters clashed with police on Tuesday as troubled trade talks got under way in Hong Kong.

Tension between the United States and the 25-nation European Union burst into the open as the meeting got under way, with European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson calling for “radical reform” to the U.S. system of food aid for developing nations.

Meanwhile, another marriage chapter begins to open in the US and Canada (and elsewhere also, no doubt:

“Polygamy rights is the next civil rights battle.” So goes the motto of a Christian pro-polygamy organization that has been watching the battle over homosexual “marriage” rights with keen interest.

Oh, and speaking of marriage, here’s a story from Northern Africa somewhere:

Four American women — a missionary named Molly*, a journeyman named Susan* and two volunteers — sit among a dozen or so African prostitutes in a circle of mismatched chairs and a couch. They all listen intently as the Old Testament story of Joseph and Potiphar plays from a cassette. From the hall outside comes the sound of Molly’s toddler, Joshua*, playing with African friends.

In a home across town, Molly’s husband, Mike*, pulls dishes from the cabinet and sets out two pans of lasagna to thaw, getting ready for the evening’s house church. Christopher*, the couple’s 3-year-old, throws a ball outside with a neighbor.

And while we’re focused on family, some public school parents may have had a rude awakening in Hillsboro County, Florida:

In a districtwide survey, nearly half of high school students and one in five middle school students said they have had sexual intercourse, and a higher percentage of high school boys than girls reported being physically hurt by their “significant others.”

Before we leave Florida, there’s this from West Palm Beach:

They could be called the other “anti-abortion” photographs, if photographer J. Scott Kelly could stomach those words for only a moment.

Instead of trying to persuade people not to do something with what he describes as gruesome “shock and awe” pictures plastered on buses and the like, Kelly decided last spring that he wanted to sway expectant mothers from abortion by exhibiting the tenderness of parenthood in poster-sized black-and-white studio portraits.

North Carolina is (back?) in the ACLU crosshairs:

In an effort to end the Bible’s monopoly on the swearing-in procedure in the courtroom, the American Civil Liberties Union is now suing the state of North Carolina.

A lawsuit has been filed in Superior Court in Wake County, N.C., on behalf of the organization’s statewide membership of approximately 8,000 individuals of many different faiths, including Islam and Judaism.

And in a Florida courtroom:

For a third time, a court dismissed claims in a lawsuit against Jews for Jesus prompted by a woman who complained she was defamed when the group called her a “Jewish believer” in its newsletter.

This time, Florida State Circuit Court Judge Edward Fine in West Palm Beach dismissed the entire $1 million suit with prejudice, meaning none of the claims can be re-filed.

And in a courtroom in San Diego:

A federal judge on Monday lifted the final legal barrier to completing a border fence meant to thwart illegal immigrants in the southwestern corner of the U.S. The project comprises 14 miles of additional fencing in San Diego.

And in El Paso, Texas, today . . . .

Two national presidents set off an explosion that diverted the Rio Grande, reshaping the U.S.-Mexican border and ending a century-old dispute. President Johnson and Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz. In 1964.

Further away (I assume), in Adwar, Iraq . . .

Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces while hiding in a hole — two years ago today.

And in Los Angeles, Tookie Williams finished his 26 years (or so) in prison. He left San Quentin a little over seven hours ago. Lying down. In plain sight of a few people. I wonder what he is learning wherever he arrived after that.


“Laughed as he told his friends
how the victim gurgled as he lay dying”

I spent way, way, way too much time at this! 🙁

Elder Care Crisis. Soon?

Calling all children. And grandchildren. And nieces and nephews.

Calling all churches.

As 1,200 national delegates, policymakers and advocates for the elderly converge on Washington D.C., this week for the fifth White House Conference on Aging, many come with mixed feelings of hope and frustration that, though they’ve been sounding the alarm for years about a looming crisis in caregiving resources, Washington still doesn’t seem to be listening.

The list of concerns includes an increase in Alzheimer’s disease, expected to strike up to 16 million Americans by 2025; major shortages of family and professional caregivers; lack of proper housing and transportation for seniors; and shortages of geriatric physicians. Add to that questions about how major entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare will be paid for.

More than 36 million Americans are already over 65, and the problem is poised to come to a head – 2006 is the year that the first wave of baby boomers, many struggling to care for elderly parents, join the ranks of America’s 60-plus.

Who cares?

We should!

Who cares for our elderly relatives?

We should!

Read more of the story here.

Important Note: Do not read we as “Washington”!

Above all, love God!