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Yes, the Crusades; Yes, the Inquisition UPDATE
Yesterday, President Obama mentioned the Crusades in his comments to the National Prayer Breakfast. OY!
All Hell has broken Loose. Those, who might otherwise mention the Crusaders, the Inquisition, etc, as a swipe at Catholics, let's just say some Protestands and Deborah Lipstadt (who might otherwise note the harsh treatment of Jews), are shocked, SHOCKED that Obama mentioned these historic travesties in light of ISIL's burning, behading, and general Islamic unruliness. Just when Catholics are coming to grips with historic wrongs and travesties (burnings, etc.) the anti-Islamisits are suggesting, we weren't THAT BAD....OY!
UPDATE: A link to President Obama's "remarks" (as they are called on the WH site).
Ross Douthat weigns in on Obama's Niebuhrian outlook, "Obama the Theologian." I think Douthat over-reaches on this. Niebuhrians, take a look.
To God who gives joy to my youth
Altar servers are in the news once again as a priest in the neighboring Archdiocese of San Francisco has decided to eliminate female altar servers. This follows a recent interview with Cardinal Burke where he suggested that female altar servers have contributed to a loss in priestly vocations.
While it's possible that a decline in altar serving among young men has played a role in the decline in vocations, it is almost certainly dwarfed by other causes: widening professional opportunities for Catholic men, smaller families, a shifting sexual culture, secularism, and the rise of an active and engaged laity to name just a few.
More fundamentally, however, Vatican II's reform of the liturgy changed the role of the server in ways that make it harder to play the role as a seedbed for vocations that it played in the past. In the pre-conciliar liturgy, servers actually had a fair bit to do. They prayed certain prayers after the priest (ostensibly on behalf of "the people"), rang bells during the consecration, and held a paten under a communicant's chin to catch fragments of the host. Most masses--even daily Masses--had at least one server and the work of the server required fairly close collaboration with the priest throughout the Mass.
In most parishes where I've attended Mass during my life, however, the servers usually have a much more limited role. They usually bear the candles (and sometimes the processional cross) during the entrance and the offertory; hold the Missal during the collects; and assist the priest during the lavabo. In cases where the parish still rings bells at the elevation, this is also one of the server's duties. Very rarely have I seen servers prepare the altar.
Read moreBibi-Boehner Brouhaha: What Does It Mean
The editors have laid out the fundamentals of what's wrong with Majority Leader John Boehner's invitation to PM Benjaming Netanyahu to speak to Congress. And this post from January 21 links to early commentary on Why and How this happened.
Since then, there have been reams of analysis. Among the most diverting, those suggesting that there are no strategic national differences between the U.S. and Israel even if Israel wants to bomb Iran and the U.S. does not. Rather it is just personal or political or something.
Two example of that commentary:
The Bad Marriage metaphor in which the bad relations between Obama and Netanyahu are said to lie at the heart of the controversy. Here from DC and Jerusalem is that analysis by Times' reporters Peter Baker and Jodi Rudoren.
The second is an analysis arguing that the famous "bipartisan" support for Israel no longer exists. Bernard Avishai writes in the New Yorker: In "Netanyahu and the Republicans," he argues that the Republicans and Likkud are now aligned. How will the Dems take that?
Immunity, Community, and Libertarianism
We seem to be going through an immunitary moment.
This is especially interesting, since some philosophers and political theorists have for more than a decade been using the language of immunity and autoimmune disorders to shed light on contemporary politics. It's also not surprising because there are some strong echoes and resonances between the two fields: immunity, after all, is a collective response to a threat or crisis. And autoimmunity is a response that becomes reflective, aiming not only at the external "enemy" as it invades the (social or corporeal) body, but which turns and attacks the body itself. Both are excellent metaphors for what can happen in the highly divisive and excessively paranoid political world we inhabit. It may also be possible that the specific issue of immunization – or more specifically the government's role in immunizing its citizens – can expose the conceptual bankruptcy of libertarianism.
I suggest this after reading a recent story that explores Rand Paul's link to an anti-vaccine organization, as well as Chris Christie's (non-libertarian, probably cynical) comments that immunization should be rendered an act with multiple options for exit and exception. This is the already shaky logic of the Hobby Lobby case applied to public health. Unlike Hobby Lobby, however, we're talking about matters of immediate sickness and health, and potentially life and death. Immunity requires a comprehensive, truly collective response. The problem is that libertarians believe one of two things: either communities don't exist at all (no whole is anything more than the sum of its parts), or community does exist but is made up of individuals who may opt out whenever they feel that their "freedom" is endangered.
A multiplicity of microbiological forces operate in the world around us (and in us) at all times. These forces allow us to live or even thrive, or they can cut us down. We need a collective response to manage them. This is not new information; it is wisom gleaned from much suffering and an edifice of knowledge at least two centuries old. Neoliberalism and its contemporary counterpart libertarianism have for decades attempted to privatize all forms of social security, including the protections of public health. They have done so, moreover, perhaps ironically, in the name of immunity. In other words they have mobilized one conception of immunity – that of the individual who desires to be "immune from" the state's requirements – as an attack on another type of immunity, that of the collective which wants to be free from contagion and deadly disease. This is the insight of Italian philosopher Roberto Esposito among others.
I am concerned that what Freud called the "reality principle" will in the end decide which side wins this conceptual battle. A few of us may admire Ayn Rand's writing on ethics, but this doesn't make her an expert on public health. The virtue of selfishness will not and cannot stop contagion.
Pope to world's bishops: Get behind my sexual-abuse commission.
Today the Holy See released Pope Francis's February 2 letter to the world's bishops conferences and religious communities asking for their "complete cooperation" with the sexual-abuse commission he established last March. The commission's job, the pope explains, "to improve the norms and procedures for protecting children and vulnerable adults," which--everyone knows--haven't been working out so well.
In his letter Pope Francis related his own experience meeting with abuse victims. "I was deeply moved by their witness to the depth of their sufferings and the strength of their faith," he wrote. "This experience reaffirmed my conviction that everything possible must be done to rid the Church of the scourge of the sexual abuse of minors and to open pathways of reconciliation and healing for those who were abused." Pastors and those in charge of religious communities, the pope wrote, "should be available" to meet with victims and their loved ones. "Such meetings are valuable opportunities for listening to those have greatly suffered and for asking their forgiveness."
Because families must feel confident that the church is doing all its can to protect the vulnerable from predator priests, Francis continued, "priority must not be given to any other kind of concern, whatever its nature, such as the desire to avoid scandal." To that end, the pope urges local bishops conferences to "fully implement" the sensible 2011 letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith recommending a series of abuse-response procedures. Francis also recommends that dioceses periodically review their policies--and make sure they are being followed.
That a pope has established a commission to determine the best ways to respond to allegations of clerical sexual abuse is all to the good. Francis recognizes what the Roman Curia and previous popes took far too long to grasp: the sexual-abuse scandal is a global phenomenon that requires decisive action at the highest levels of the church. Local bishops conferences will certainly benefit from the commission's policy recommendations. But it's 2015. Figuring out how dioceses should respond to abuse accusations requires careful attention, but it isn't rocket science.
The more difficult problem is what to do with bishops who--through acts of commission or omission--endanger the vulnerable under their care. Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, who is in charge of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, says this is one of the problems the abuse commission is "urgently" exploring. We'll see just how urgently soon enough. According to Pope Francis, they meet in just a few days.
Sullivan's Dish is done
I wasn't sure I wanted to post on Andrew Sullivan's announced retirement from blogging until it became clear whether the Daily Dish would go on without him. Today the answer came: It won't. Sullivan this morning announced that Friday will be the Dish's last day.
There's been a number of encomia to Sullivan and his blog written since last week. His announcement has also elicited critiques and rehashes of previous critiques on his writing career (going back decades) and his editorial decision-making. It's ground worth covering but also well-covered and won't get more coverage in this post – though there may be some who have a thing or two to say.
I came around to regular reading of Sullivan's blog about the time he was rethinking his position on the war in Iraq. Hard to say exactly what it was that made his site the first one I checked every day, or the one I soon began to check most often. But I do recall finding his site much less shrill (believe it or not) and somewhat more reasoned than those then breaking through on the left-leaning side of the blogosphere. (I'd count Matthew Yglesias as another who at the time was reliably providing a safe place of sensible commentary.) I liked that he posted on a range of serious matters and a number of others that were less so. I liked how he said what he had to say on same-sex marriage, torture, Abu Ghraib, and Dick Cheney, Michael Moore, and the Clintons. I was willing to give him even more leeway on his obsession with the story of Trig Palin's birth and the woman who could have been vice president. I thought he captured and in some ways reflected what at the time was being characterized as the Obama phenomenon. I was also interested in his public Catholicism, and in his public hashing out of where his pronouncements and positions might put him in opposition to its tenets or most vocal adherents, or in line with them.
Read moreHappy Birthday Facebook
On Facebook this morning I learned today is Facebook's eleventh birthday. In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg and his college buddies (one of whom now owns the new New Republic, which, according to Mollie is having a good, and also retrospective, week) began one of the world's first social networking sites. The idea was to help those on their way to college see who their classmates would be before they got there. Formerly [thefacebook], it was an exclusive website: you'd only be able to apply with a .edu email address. In my high school it was a rite of passage: you got into college, you got to be "on Facebook."
Then in 2005, when I was 16, it opened to "non-college networks," and those included high schools. At first it wasn't popular to join. Only the "online nerds" did, just because they could. I remember all the girls on my cross country team decided we each wouldn't join until we got a .edu email address, to preserve the "tradition." If someone joined before that we'd say they "sold out." By senior year, we each had our own profile page. There are photo albums of cross country races we uploaded to share with each other still available on Facebook today.
In 2006, when anyone with a valid e-mail address could use Facebook, it was an encroachment on a private internet world populated by the curated identities of teenagers—an invasion of you and your friends. The prospect of Mom and Dad seeing the person you were "online," the pictures you post (or pictures posted of you), the music you said you liked, the words you used in your comments...this was horrifying. The combination of Mom, Google, and Facebook…you didn't have time to answer all of those questions. You didn't want her "in your business": in your journal, in your room, in your backpack, and on your Facebook.
Read moreAccidental Armaggedon
"In the event of a nuclear attack, which of these items would be the most helpful? Rank them in order of importance."
This was one of the first worksheets I remember from elementary school. There were about twenty illustrated items. My classmates and I were perplexed. Sure, we had probably watched a filmstrip that mentioned the Geiger Counter, but none of us could remember what it did. And why would we want a broom? Would we be that concerned with the tidiness of our fallout shelter?
IT WAS ABOUT 1983. That same year, the Russians shot down a Korean civilian airliner over the Sea of Japan; the U.S. Catholic Bishops issued a lengthy warning about the buildup of nuclear weapons; and on September 26, a Soviet Lieutenant Colonel secretly saved the world from accidental Armaggedon. But more about Stanislav Petrov later.
Growing up in the early 1980's, not far from North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) and the Air Force Academy, the Cold War was a hot topic – even for kids. Popular videos on the burgeoning MTV network, such as Genesis' "Land of Confusion," satirized and lamented the possibility of nuclear annihilation. Dads took their sons to see "Top Gun" in theaters, and we cheered when Russian MIGs were splashed in the ocean. "Red Dawn" was always checked out of the video store. One of my favorite books, still there in my parents' house, was titled "Great Warplanes of the 1980's."
KIDS TODAY don't have the same fears. They don't know that the broom is to sweep nuclear fallout off your friends.
The globally-aware college students that I teach don't think about nuclear annihilation. Environmental degradation? Yes. Terrorism? Yes. Economic inequality? Yes. Racial injustice? Absolutely. But if they think about nuclear weapons at all, it's in the context of who might acquire them – namely, North Korea or Iran. The notion that the arsenals of the already nuclear-armed states should be at the center of moral concern seems outdated, like referring to music videos being shown on MTV.
The fact is, the nuclear capabilities that already exist have grown in power beyond human comprehension, and there have been enough "close calls" regarding their deployment to warrant the gravest of fears. In recent years, many influential voices have made the case that – regardless of whether nuclear weapons ever made us more safe – they certainly no longer do so.
Read moreA Short Play About Thoughtfulness
Scene: 6:15 a.m. My bedroom. I am asleep. My three-year-old child enters from the bathroom.
CHILD (stage whisper): Mommy!
ME: ...What?
CHILD: Know why I didn't flush?
ME: ...Why?
CHILD: So it wouldn't wake you up.
He goes back to bed.
Fethullah Gülen on Islam, democracy and freedom of speech
Publishing a book in 2009 about Francis of Assisi's peaceful encounter with Egypt's Sultan Malik al-Kamil during the Fifth Crusade led me to meet a lot of people with an interest in improving interreligious relations. Among them were a number of Turkish immigrants who are followers of the Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. I observed that through a network of private schools, foundations and media organizations, they have worked very hard to improve Muslim-Christian relations.
I offer that as a brief backdrop to an important op-ed piece in The New York Times in which the reclusive Gülen, living in exile in the Poconos in Pennsylvania, speaks out forcefully against the increasingly harsh nature of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule. He writes:
Turkey's rulers have not only alienated the West, they are also now losing credibility in the Middle East. Turkey's ability to assert positive influence in the region depends not only on its economy but also on the health of its own democracy.
The core tenets of a functioning democracy — the rule of law, respect for individual freedoms — are also the most basic of Islamic values bestowed upon us by God. No political or religious leader has the authority to take them away ... Speaking against oppression is a democratic right, a civic duty and for believers, a religious obligation. The Quran makes clear that people should not remain silent in the face of injustice: "O you who believe! Be upholders and standard-bearers of justice, bearing witness to the truth for God's sake, even though it be against your own selves, or parents or kindred."
It's an interesting piece in which Gülen invokes Islam in defense of free speech. That value has been under attack in Turkey, where Erdogan's government has been arresting, smearing and intimidating journalists. Gülen may not have the power of a state behind him, but he has the power of an idea.
The New Republic positions itself for the future by looking at its past
It's still hard to know where the project will end up, or how much of the old New Republic will live on in it, but it must be said that the new New Republic has been having a very good week.
First there's the excellent cover story, by Jeet Heer, in the magazine's new issue -- its first since the December 2014 conflagration that was much discussed here and elsewhere.
The initial cries of outrage over owner Chris Hughes's determination to make the storied journal over into a "vertically integrated digital media company," which took the form of mournful (and well-deserved) encomia for the best of TNR's long history and the best work of its recently departed big names, were followed by more ambivalent reactions to the apparent death of the old TNR that focused on that magazine's spotty history of opining on matters of race and foreign policy as well as its occasional dramatic journalistic lapses (Stephen Glass, Betsy McCaughey...).
Now, the magazine relaunches, so to speak, with a cover story examining "The New Republic's Legacy on Race." It's a canny bit of public-relations positioning, to be sure; it lends some after-the-fact integrity to Hughes's decision to remake the magazine root and branch (if you're willing to assume the decimation of his staff was part of the plan all along). But it's also a very good article in its own right. Heer, a historian, does not simply recall the lowlights of the Peretz era or rehash the controversy over then-editor Andrew Sullivan's decision to publish an excerpt from Charles Murray's The Bell Curve. He goes back to the magazine's founding, in 1914, to trace its successes as well as its failures over the last century. "At its best moments," he writes, "the magazine has been a beacon of fact-based reporting and a forum for rich debate over racial issues. At its worst, the magazine has fallen under the sway of racial theorizing and crackpot racial lore."
Read moreMarcia, Marcia, Marcia--The Best Superbowl Ad of 2015
The best commercial during Sunday's game was the "Brady Bunch" Sinickers ad. For those of us of a certain age, that is. The making of the commercial is astonishing. Look at the physics behind this; it must be extraodrdinarily complicated.
I just love Steve Buscemi in everything he does--whether it's Fargo or Boardwalk Empire or The Brady Bunch.
Missing a Vocabulary of the Moral Middle
Finally free of the imperative of manuscript editing, I actually am reading. Nicholas Carr's new book, The Glass Cage, is a worthy sequel to The Shallows. The earlier book was a brilliant telling of the neuroscience of our brains in using the internet…. As opposed to, say, reading. (yes, this is a blog post, blah blah…) The current book is an exploration of the automation of processes of all sorts, from factory processes to self-driving cars to decision-support software employed by doctors and lawyers.
Carr's books are attractive because he avoids turning them into a polemic on one side or the other of these questions. He doesn't think automation is inherently bad (Frankenstein) or inherently good (the techno-futurists); indeed, he gives a nice history which shows that excitement about machines and anxiety about them have gone hand in hand from their inception. His books are really more about understanding something thoroughly.
But with two lessons. One, Carr is adept at noting how "this time it's different." In The Shallows, he persuasively makes the case that the internet is not just another in a string of "media" advances, from writing to the printing press to the telegraph to the radio. The combination of the actual processes (and limits) involved in use and the physical capacities (and limits) of the human person shape what a given media technology can mean and be for us. The internet combines a pace of extraordinarily rapid inflow and a virtually-unlimited storage capacity. This differs from reading. In The Glass Cage, he is out to show that the current wave of automation is different because of its capacity to mimic not just human physical processes, but human thought processes. One of the key claims of the book is that the ability to mimic processes is not the same as replicating the processes themselves – Watson doesn't answer a Jeopardy question the same way a human does, nor does "Doctor Algorithm" go about diagnoses in the same way a doctor does. In some ways, the ability to process massive amounts of data via algorithms and probabilities is great; in other ways, it is very different from human thought and action, and introduces a different set of "errors."
Read moreMonday Morning Links
In the latest issue of The New York Review of Books, Eamon Duffy creates a portrait of Pope Francis by reviewing three recent books on the pope: The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope by Austen Ivereigh, A Big Heart Open to God: A Conversation with Pope Francis by Antonio Spadaro, SJ, and Pope Francis: Untying the Knots by Paul Vallely. After reading Duffy's "Who Is Pope Francis?", take a look at our review of Ivereigh's The Great Reformer from our latest issue.
Today Obama will announce his proposals for the federal budget in 2016, and the Washington Post's Federal Eye blog tells us what we should expect. CNN explains how the 10-year plan attempts to help the middle-class. The Boston Globe addresses GOP resistance to Obama's approach to addressing income inequality.
Read moreMental Loops
The vivid expression "earworm" suggests a voice, perhaps a song, or some phrase or fragment, that plays unwanted in a continuous mental loop. Subliminal sometimes it may be, but persistent, even distracting, as we might wish to concentrate all our attention on a problem or text. I think that times of stress brings the voice on. I have heard inside my head my voice audibly repeating the short prayers that the nuns in grade school would unselfconsciously tell us were "ejaculations." Those moments when anxiety threatens to screech its nails down fearful chalk boards – then I am likely to repeat as litany Domine adjuvanda me festina.
I have lately been reading through three of Philip Roth's novels from the eighties and nineties, The Counterlife, American Pastoral, and I Married a Communist. Each has its striking virtuosity of voice and of perception. The energy of the prose and dynamism of the plotting and the voices (heteroglossia of the first order) can sweep a reader along. I had to stop, however, over a passage near the conclusion of I Married a Communist. The chief narrator Murray records experiencing an ear-worm like obsession in a moment of great anxiety. Murray has just left his brother Ira in his rustic shack in Pennsylvania. Ira is despondent, angry, homicidal. Murray knows how violent Ira can be, and he fears that his brother will soon attempt to kill his estranged wife. On the drive back to his home, unconvinced that he has dissuaded his brother despite taking his knives and pistol, Murray recounts his inner turmoil. He maintains his stability, more or less, by repeating a quotation from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. They are Feste's words at the conclusion of the play: "And thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges." Now you must know that Murray is an English teacher and an acutely sensitive reader. He is relating this experience to Nathan Zuckerman, his former student and now an accomplished novelist. Murray considers what his mind was doing with Feste's words.
Read moreSuperbowl Sunday reminder: Football is bad for you.
In a recent episode of HBO's Real Sports, Bryant Gumbel spoke with several members of the 1985 Chicago Bears, whose historically dominant season ended with a devastating rout of the New England Patriots. If you lived in Chicago during their reign, or really anywhere near a television or radio, there was no escaping the '85 Bears. There was "The Superbowl Shuffle"--predicting a national championship halfway through the season (to the chagrin of several members of the team). There was the cover of Time magazine. There were the TV spots. The inevitable SNL sketch. They were superstars.
But some of that light has dimmed in recent years. Former quarterback Jim McMahon now experiences extended periods of depression, and has struggled with suicidal thoughts for years. He has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia. Nearly half of McMahon's teammates are now suing the National Football League for the injuries they've suffered playing the game. William "The Refrigerator" Perry can hardly walk. Keith Van Horne claims that the team medical staff concealed--with the aid of generous distribution of pain meds--the fact that he was playing on a broken leg. Wilber Marshall is on disability. Richard Dent describes himself as "very damaged goods." At the age of fifty, Dave Duerson shot himself in the heart so that his brain could be donated to the NFL brain bank. His son found his suicide note, instructing the family to have his brain studied.
Near the end of the piece, Gumbel asks former Bears head coach Mike Ditka whether player injuries will be the cross on which the NFL is nailed. "Let me ask you a question better than that," the coach replies. "If you had an eight-year-old kid now, would you tell him that you wanted him to play football?" I wouldn't, Gumbel says, would you? "No, I wouldn't. That's sad. My whole life was football. I think the risk is worse than the reward."
I'm going to watch the big game tonight, just as I do every year. I'll drink beer and eat wings. I'll laugh at the good commercials and mock the bad ones. But every time players knock heads, or the game is stopped for an injury, I'm going to think about this Real Sports piece. I'll recall Mike Ditka, revered by millions as a god of football, looking out into the middle distance and admitting that playing the game just isn't worth the risk. And I'll wonder whether the same could be said about watching it.
White Smoke over Montecitorio
Almost two years ago a deadlocked and faction-riven Italian Parliament failed to elect a new President upon the completion of Giorgio Napolitano's seven year mandate. The highly respected Napolitano, a former member of Italy's Communist Party, was prevailed upon to extend his term. He finally stepped down in January citing age and increasing fraility, in a manner reminiscent of Benedict XVI with whom he had had warm relations.
Today, adroitly directed by the energetic young Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, the "Grand Electors" elected as new President the former Christian Democrat, Sergio Mattarella.
Here is a report by Kay Wallace who writes an English blog for La Repubblica:
Born in Palermo in 1941, Sergio Mattarella comes from a prominent Sicilian family; his father Bernardo was one of the founders of the Christian Democrat (DC) party that dominated the Italian political scene for half a century. His brother, Piersanti became Governor of Sicily in 1978 with a campaign to clean up the DC and rid it of its close ties with Cosa Nostra. He was gunned down in his car by the Sicilian Mafia in 1980. There is photograph that shows him being pulled out of the car, still alive, by his brother Sergio.
Mattarella is a centrist politician who has held several ministerial posts in governments of different political stripes. In 1990 he resigned from his post as Education Minister in protest at the Mammì media law, a bill that effectively legalised Berlusconi's TV empire. In 1993 he drafted the electoral law in force from 1994 and 2001, the Mattarellum. Later as Defence Minister he oversaw the abolition of conscription. He was nominated to the Constitutional Court in 2011.
Wallace concludes:
There were two big winners: Sergio Mattarella and Matteo Renzi. By imposing his will on parliament and his party, Renzi showed just how able a politician he is. After the embarrassing farce of the last attempted presidential election, it was also a good day for Italy.
100 Years of Thomas Merton
If it weren't for his premature death in 1968, Thomas Merton would turn 100 years old this January 31. Fortunately for us, his legacy and wisdom continue to influence each new generation through the prolific corpus of spiritual writing he left.
I suspect Merton is one of the most well-known and beloved figures in recent American history. But for those of you who might be unfamiliar, he was an ivy-league nihilist turned Trappist monk, mystic, writer, poet, and activist, who spent his days at an abbey in Gethsemani, Kentucky.
Most people I know have read or heard of his spiritual autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain, which he wrote at age 31 and which sold over 600,000 copies (a feat for any spiritual autobiography, then and now). He went on to write over 70 works.
I finally got around to reading The Seven Storey Mountain two and half years ago—an especially opportune time to begin, since I realized I would be exploring some of the same places he visited in his text: Rome, New York City, Columbia University, Corpus Christi parish, and the neighborhood of Morningside Heights in general. I found it thrilling to read Merton's discovery of these places as I simultaneously experienced them for the first time. There were several layers: there was my experience of Rome, and the experience of reading Merton's experience of Rome, and then discovering Merton's discovery of himself and God in Rome—or New York, or Corpus Christi, for that matter—all while I discovered him, through his self-portrait in the text.
It's predictable, maybe even trite (in the best possible way) to discover that yet another person's conversion transpired in part while reading his compelling, sometimes pious, and always achingly human books. His impact is warranted: he has a way of making grace, faith, sainthood, and ancient traditions accessible—and more importantly, attractive—to a modern sensibility.
In honor of the centennial of Merton's arrival on earth, here are ways you can celebrate:
You could stop by your local Catholic Church and do some contemplative exercises. If you're in NYC, visit the church in which he was baptized Roman Catholic—Corpus Christi parish in Morningside Heights, where a lecture will be held to commemorate his legacy (including longtime contributor and friend of Commonweal Lawrence Cunningham as one of the panelists!). In the spirit of his activism, you could rally or pray for peace; you could also read his 1966 essay on the roots of Christian non-violence. Or strike up a conversation with someone from an altogether different religious tradition and discover common ground. You could watch Merton's last lecture (see below) at a conference in Bangkok.
In addition to praying for his canonization (wouldn't Saint sound so nice in front of his name?), I think I'll try to attend this exhibit at Columbia University featuring photographs from a camera Merton carried throughout his time at the monastery. It would suffice, however, to simply revisit his famous (and perfectly mortal) prayer:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (From Thoughts in Solitude)
Happy 100 years, Thomas Merton.
Archbishop Romero, martyrdom, and ecumenism
Pope Francis, early on, unblocked the cause for the canonization of Archbishop Oscar Romero, and it has recently been reported that theologians in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith concluded unanimously that he is rightly regarded as a martyr for the faith. The Romero Trust in Great Britain has a website devoted to the archbishop which provides English translations of his homilies, pastoral letters, and other works, produces a twice-yearly newsletter, and sponsors an annual lecture about him. The 2013 speaker was Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., and this past December the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, entitled his lecture: "A saint for the whole people of God: Oscar Romero and the ecumenical future." Describing Romero as " one of the great gifts of God to the whole people of God in the last few decades; one whose witness and teaching is a legacy for Christians everywhere," Williams gave a moving description of the passion for the poor that drove Romero before asking what his life, and death, might have to say about the future of ecumenism. It reminded me of the "ecumenism of martyrdom" of which Pope Francis recently spoke and was a frequent theme of Pope John Paul II before him, particularly in his encyclical "Ut unum sint."
Some excerpts from Williams' lecture:
He poses a deeply troubling and challenging question about ecumenism: can we see our vision of unity afresh in the context of being united with Christ as he understands it? Do we seek not just the unity of the churches, some kind of fusion of various kinds of institutional life, or unity with Christ?
The ecumenical vision feels and sounds remarkably different if we begin by saying what we pray for and hope for is to be united with Jesus Christ. And through that, and in that, to be united with one another. And to be united with Christ in Christ's proclamation and embodiment of good news for the poor. Of course, you can misunderstand this. You might think, for example, that ecumenism understood in this light meant that churches ought to assemble around social and political projects, rather than doctrinal formulae. But that's just replacing one kind of formality with another. ...
... I regard Monseñor Romero not just as a teacher and a martyr who witnesses to justice for the poor, but as a teacher who has something crucial, life-giving, vital to say to us about what and who we are as a Church, as churches seeking to be more fully united. And the question he puts to us is, if we are only truly united when we are more deeply united with Christ, then there is a simple place to start on our path to unity, and that is learning to be united with the cry, and the need, and the agenda of those who are most at risk, and where appropriate to go and to share that risk.
None of this is meant to suggest that we simply dismantle all our interests and concerns in doctrine, and sacrament, and discipline, and simply go and look for good causes to support together. For, you see, none of this would make any sense whatsoever, unless our doctrinal and sacramental commitments were what they are. The Christ who is there with and in the poor is not just an impressive human teacher, but the incarnate Son of God, the Lord Almighty, clothing himself in our poverty, so that we may be clothed with his divine richness. Unless we believe that, none of this business about being united with him in the poor would make any sense whatever. And if Jesus Christ were just a great and interesting good man, then the Eucharist would be meaningless, except as a faintly melancholy commemoration of one of the innumerable tragedies of history, where great and impressive men tend to get killed unpleasantly.
The Eucharist, as the place where the very life of the incarnate Son of God is given to us, the Eucharist is the place where our responsibility for one another is renewed and deepened, and set on new foundations. That again is what makes sense of the commitments we take into our commitments in the world. These commitments are the ground of the whole vision, and they matter theologically precisely because they are what grounds and inspires the vision of solidarity with the poor.
Mike Huckabee, bard of 'Bubba-ville'
"It is trying on liberals in Dilton," reads the first line of Flannery O'Connor's story "The Barber," which could with tweaking aptly apply to the unfolding 2016 presidential campaign season for those maybe uninclined to vote for one of the score or so of potential Republican candidates. The GOP's field of declared and undeclared are riding the usual hobby horses--Obamacare, "big government," Obamacare, public schools, moral collapse, Obamacare—with some already honing their grievances into slogans, sound bites, and hashtags. Does "Bubble-ville vs. Bubba-ville" work for you?
Best-selling author Mike Huckabee thinks it will. Well, maybe not for you, but hopefully for the fractious choir he's preaching to with his newest book, God, Guns, Grits and Gravy. "Bubble-ville" describes the population of Americans associated with the iniquitous and elite "nerve centers" of Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C.; "Bubba-ville," everywhere else—"the flyover country" that "more often than not votes red instead of blue, roots for the Cowboys in the NFL and the Cardinals in the National League, and has three or more bibles in every house." (The characterization invites debate, but, to use a construction for which Huckabee shows fondness: I digress.)
GGG&G, in short, makes use of a simple construct to capitalize on resentments by reaffirming the preconceptions and prejudices of its intended audience. Neither polemic nor screed, it's mainly a book-length unspooling of commentary that's also needlessly broken into chapters, though if it weren't, then readers would be deprived of nominally edifying (if not necessarily organizing) headings like "The New American Outcasts: People Who Put Faith and Family First" and "Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!" (this following one bemoaning "The Culture of Crude"). His musings are at times entertainingly wrought. In places he risks naughty ethno-religious offense: "I can see the look of horror on the faces of friends of mine who have spent their lives in New York City when I talk about owning a wide variety of firearms: It's the look one would get announcing in a synagogue that one owns a bacon factory" (it's an image he uses more than once). In places he's more plainly insulting, as when contending that Beyoncé is unwittingly allowing herself to be pimped out by her husband, Jay-Z. Sometimes he's hilarious:
Read more


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Madrid: Atletico Madrid extended their record run of home wins to 19 when they squeezed past Sevilla 2-1 on Thursday in a King's Cup semi-final first leg that featured three red cards and three successful penalties.
Sport | Football
Three reds and three penalties in Atletico win
Costa on target twice in cup semi-final first leg victory over Sevilla
All the second half spot-kicks were awarded for handball at the Vicente Calderon stadium, the first two resulting in dismissals for Sevilla defender Emir Spahic and Atletico's Diego Godin.
Diego Costa, leading the line in the absence of the injured Radamel Falcao, put Atletico in front after Spahic was given a second yellow card for falling on the ball and striking it with his arm in the 48th minute.
Godin was shown a straight red seven minutes later when Alvaro Negredo's goal-bound effort brushed his arm. Negredo then equalised from the spot, the first goal Atletico have conceded at home in more than 1,000 minutes of play.
Costa converted his second penalty in the 71st minute after Sevilla full-back Fernando Navarro tumbled to the ground and handled.
Navarro was also sent off five minutes from time for bringing down Costa when he was through on goal.
"The job of taking the two penalties fell to me and it's great I scored them but the important thing was to win the game," Costa said in an interview with Spanish television broadcaster Telecinco.
"We were very superior and we had a lot of chances to score more," added the Brazilian.
Holders Barcelona and 2011 winners Real Madrid drew their first leg 1-1 at the Bernabeu on Wednesday.
The game between Atletico and Sevilla was a repeat of the 2010 final, which was won 2-0 by the Andalusians.
"It was a shame about the second sending off because we had to accept the result and hang on for the second leg," Sevilla coach Unai Emery told a post-match news conference.
"We knew that Atletico are having a great season and we would have to be very focused to get a good result," he added.
"It was a very tough match, very demanding."
Barca host Real and Atletico visit Sevilla in the second legs at the end of February with a place in May's final at stake.
Sport Editor's choice
'No change' in Pietersen situation, ECB says
England clarify after incoming chairman appeared to open door to batsman's return
Dalmiya returns as BCCI president
Former ICC boss replaces banned Srinivasan as Pawar elected secretary
Dubai tournament has a very good feel — Kermode
ATP Tour boss hails UAE event after it wins players' award for 11th year in 12

subset: commoncrawl


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Studies of the Ocular Complications of AIDS (SOCA)--Cytomegalovirus Retinitis Retreatment Trial (CRRT)
Tracking Information | |
First Received Date ICMJE | September 23, 1999 |
Last Updated Date | September 16, 2009 |
Start Date ICMJE | December 1992 |
Primary Completion Date | Not Provided |
Current Primary Outcome Measures ICMJE | Not Provided |
Original Primary Outcome Measures ICMJE | Not Provided |
Change History | Complete list of historical versions of study NCT00000134 on ClinicalTrials.gov Archive Site |
Current Secondary Outcome Measures ICMJE | Not Provided |
Original Secondary Outcome Measures ICMJE | Not Provided |
Current Other Outcome Measures ICMJE | Not Provided |
Original Other Outcome Measures ICMJE | Not Provided |
Descriptive Information | |
Brief Title ICMJE | Studies of the Ocular Complications of AIDS (SOCA)--Cytomegalovirus Retinitis Retreatment Trial (CRRT) |
Official Title ICMJE | Not Provided |
Brief Summary | To compare the relative merits of three therapeutic regimens in patients with AIDS and CMV retinitis who have been previously treated but whose retinitis either is nonresponsive or has relapsed. These three therapeutic regimens were (1) foscarnet, (2) high-dose ganciclovir, and (3) combination foscarnet and ganciclovir. To compare two treatment strategies in patients with relapsed or nonresponsive CMV retinitis: (1) continuing the same anti-CMV drug or (2) switching to the alternate drug. |
Detailed Description | CMV retinitis is the most common intraocular infection in patients with AIDS and is estimated to affect 35 to 40 percent of patients with AIDS. Untreated CMV retinitis is a progressive disorder, the end result of which is total retinal destruction and blindness. At the time of this trial, drugs approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of CMV retinitis were ganciclovir (Cytovene) and foscarnet (Foscavir). Although most retinitis responds well to initial therapy with systemically administered drugs, given enough time, nearly all patients will suffer a relapse of the retinitis. Relapsed retinitis generally responds to reinduction and maintenance therapy, but the interval between successive relapses progressively shortens. The CRRT addressed the issue of the management of relapsed CMV retinitis. The CRRT was a multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical trial comparing three regimens in patients with relapsed retinitis. Patients with AIDS and CMV retinitis that had relapsed or was nonresponsive to initial therapy were randomized to one of three regimens: (1) intravenous foscarnet reinduction at 90 mg/kg twice daily for 2 weeks, followed by maintenance therapy at 120 mg/kg/day; (2) intravenous ganciclovir reinduction at 5 mg/kg twice daily for 2 weeks followed by maintenance at 10 mg/kg/day; and (3) combination therapy, wherein patients continued their previous therapy and were reinduced with the second drug and then placed on maintenance therapy with foscarnet at 90 mg/kg/day and ganciclovir at 5 mg/kg/day. Outcome measures in this trial were survival, retinitis progression, loss of visual function (acuity and field), and morbidity. |
Study Type ICMJE | Interventional |
Study Phase | Phase 3 |
Study Design ICMJE | Allocation: Randomized Primary Purpose: Treatment |
Condition ICMJE |
Intervention ICMJE |
Study Arm (s) | Not Provided |
Publications * | Combination foscarnet and ganciclovir therapy vs monotherapy for the treatment of relapsed cytomegalovirus retinitis in patients with AIDS. The Cytomegalovirus Retreatment Trial. The Studies of Ocular Complications of AIDS Research Group in Collaboration with the AIDS Clinical Trials Group. Arch Ophthalmol. 1996 Jan;114(1):23-33. |
* Includes publications given by the data provider as well as publications identified by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number) in Medline. |
Recruitment Information | |
Recruitment Status ICMJE | Completed |
Enrollment ICMJE | Not Provided |
Completion Date | March 1995 |
Primary Completion Date | Not Provided |
Eligibility Criteria ICMJE | Males and females eligible for the CRRT must have been age 18 years or older and have had AIDS and CMV retinitis. They must have had active CMV despite a minimum of 28 days of previous treatment with an anti-CMV drug. Furthermore, they must have had an absolute neutrophil count greater than or equal to 500 cells/??L, platelet count greater than or equal to 20,000 cells/??L, and a serum creatinine < 2.5 mg/dL in order to tolerate the drug regimens. |
Gender | Both |
Ages | 18 Years and older |
Accepts Healthy Volunteers | No |
Contacts ICMJE | Contact information is only displayed when the study is recruiting subjects |
Listed Location Countries ICMJE | Not Provided |
Removed Location Countries | |
Administrative Information | |
NCT Number ICMJE | NCT00000134 |
Other Study ID Numbers ICMJE | NEI-33 |
Has Data Monitoring Committee | Not Provided |
Responsible Party | Not Provided |
Study Sponsor ICMJE | National Eye Institute (NEI) |
Collaborators ICMJE | Not Provided |
Investigators ICMJE | Not Provided |
Information Provided By | National Eye Institute (NEI) |
Verification Date | September 2009 |
ICMJE Data element required by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and the World Health Organization ICTRP |


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Sacramento court freed mother in June despite failure to reveal baby's whereabouts
Despite the fact that her infant son hadn't been seen by family members or authorities for at least two months, a drug- using mother was ordered released from jail in June by the Sacramento County Juvenile Court, The Bee has learned.
Without ever producing her son, as ordered by the court, Tanisha Edwards remained free – until last week, when authorities began an intensive search for 22-month-old Dwight Stallings.
Authorities say the child has not been seen by family members since April 2011, and Edwards, 35, has been unable or unwilling to reveal what happened to the little boy.
Her arrest last week in Elk Grove came after Sacramento County Child Protective Services spent months looking for the mother and child, seeking sporadic help from law enforcement in the "Baby Dwight" case.
The role of the Juvenile Court – and the secrecy surrounding its actions – adds a new layer to the mystery and the apparent systemwide failure that allowed a baby under CPS care to go missing for 11 months.
Both CPS and the Juvenile Court have cited confidentiality laws in refusing to divulge details of the case.
But two sources close to the investigation told The Bee this week that the Juvenile Court played an early, pivotal role by cutting Edwards loose from custody without ensuring that her infant son was safe.
"Why would the court let her go without anyone seeing that child?" asked one source, who would not be identified because of the secrecy involving juvenile cases.
According to The Bee's sources, this is the sequence of events:
Last April, when CPS officials first realized that Dwight had not been seen by family members, they contacted the Sheriff's Department for help in locating Edwards.
The first call was April 14, a Thursday, when CPS and sheriff's deputies went to Edwards' Florin Road apartment but did not find her there.
The next day, CPS and sheriff's deputies again went with the agency to the apartment but did not find Edwards.
After the weekend, CPS called for help twice more, once on Monday, April 18, and again on Wednesday, April 20, but neither Edwards nor the baby could be found.
CPS then went to Juvenile Court to obtain a warrant ordering Edwards' arrest for failure to produce the child.
That warrant was issued by the court on May 26. Sacramento police found Edwards on Stockton Boulevard on June 4 and arrested her.
Edwards remained in the Sacramento County jail until she appeared in Juvenile Court on June 8.
Despite the fact that no one had seen Dwight since April, Edwards was ordered released from custody.
Juvenile Court records are sealed, but sources say Edwards was found to be in violation of the court-ordered deadline to produce the child on Aug. 19, so another bench warrant was issued for her arrest.
By then, Edwards had been contacted by sheriff's deputies twice – once on July 5 and again on Aug. 6 – on calls unrelated to the missing child.
However, deputies who responded to those calls would have had no way of knowing there was a problem because, at the time, there was no outstanding warrant.
CPS made one more effort to find Edwards using backup from sheriff's deputies on Aug. 5, but that effort was unsuccessful and no missing persons report was filed by CPS.
After the Aug. 19 warrant was issued, CPS made no more efforts to involve the Sheriff's Department, sources said.
Similarly, the agency did not alert Elk Grove police, even though Edwards had lived there in the past and her mother was living there with custody of two of Edwards' other children, ages 7 and 15.
"The first time that we received a call from CPS was on (March 19) to look for Tanisha Edwards at her mother's house in Elk Grove," said Officer Christopher Trim, Elk Grove police spokesman. "That was the first time we had been made aware of Ms. Edwards, that she had this warrant from CPS."
The department immediately began seeking Edwards and arrested her March 22 at her mother's house, Trim said.
It was Elk Grove police – not CPS workers – who notified the Sheriff's Department that Dwight was still missing, igniting an all-out effort to locate the boy.
According to the Sheriff's Department, Edwards has given authorities conflicting stories, saying her son is with unidentified relatives or with unknown black Muslim women. She has also said that Dwight was taken by two unknown males dressed in black, and that he died of an illness at an unknown hospital, according to sheriff's reports.
The case has ignited intense media attention and vigorous finger-pointing, as agencies scramble to explain their roles – now, and in the preceding 11 months.
In an unusual maneuver, CPS and the Sheriff's Department held a joint news conference Wednesday to display a unified front in their hunt for the missing child.
Absent from that lineup was anyone from the Juvenile Court, which operates almost exclusively in secret because of confidentiality laws.
Pressure is mounting in California and elsewhere to open Juvenile Court proceedings to the public to ensure that judges, social workers and others are held accountable for their actions.
Over objections from social workers and some child advocates, Los Angeles County Presiding Judge Michael Nash last month opened Juvenile Court proceedings there to the media, unless there is persuasive evidence that children would be harmed.
Supporters have long argued that juvenile courts make monumental decisions in the lives of families, yet operate with virtually no oversight or public accountability.
Opponents contend that these children, many of them victims of abuse and neglect, are too fragile to bear such scrutiny.
The Bee is legally challenging Sacramento's Juvenile Court to obtain Tanisha Edwards' court records, arguing that she is not a minor and therefore not protected by confidentiality shields.
Join the Discussion
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Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff ordered tax cuts and other stimulus measures worth about 65 billion reais ($35 billion) to protect the country's struggling industry from what she said were "predatory" trade practices by rich nations.
As part of a package of incentives announced today to boost growth, the government will eliminate 12.1 billion reais in payroll taxes through 2013 for employers in industries hardest- hit by a surge in imports. State development bank BNDES will also expand subsidized lending, backed by a 45 billion reais injection from the Treasury. Finance Minister Guido Mantega also pledged to take more measures to weaken the currency, which has rallied 47 percent since 2005, more than all major currencies.
Latin America's biggest economy has been struggling to cope with the currency rally, which has nearly halved the country's trade surplus from a record $47.8 billion in May 2007. To try and reverse that trend, worsened as rich nations see their currencies weaken with interest rates near zero, Rousseff has already slapped higher tariffs on imports, raised taxes on foreign investment inflows and taken steps to boost consumption.
"We won't hesitate to do whatever needs to be done, within our laws, to defend our companies, jobs, and growth," Rousseff told business leaders at the presidential palace in Brasilia. "The government won't abandon Brazil's industry."
Recovery Underway?
The package of incentives, which also includes measures to boost government purchases of locally-made goods and tougher enforcement of trade rules, were announced after a report showed that industrial production (25:US) rose more than economists expected in February.
Output rose 1.3 percent in February, higher than 40 of 44 estimates in a Bloomberg survey of analysts whose median estimate was for a 0.6 percent expansion. Output fell 3.9 percent from a year ago, the national statistics agency said today in Rio de Janeiro.
The elimination of a 20 percent payroll tax, a longstanding demand of Brazilian employers, will go into effect in July for 15 industries including manufacturers of airplanes, computers, car parts and capital goods, Mantega said.
The measures will cost an estimated 4.9 billion reais in lost tax revenue from this year -- 7.2 billion reais in 2013 -- and will be partially compensated by a 1 percent to 2 percent tax levied on company revenues and higher taxes on imports, Mantega said.
'Not Protectionism'
Tax breaks to attract investment to Brazil's car industry, which had to compete against a 30 percent surge in auto imports last year, will also be implemented. Carmakers including Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz and General Motors Co are among manufacturers that have ordered mandatory worker furloughs in Brazil this year as assembly lines are idled by growth that slowed to 2.7 percent last year -- less than Germany amid Europe's debt crisis -- from 7.5 percent in 2010.
"It's not protectionism," Mantega said during a 56-page presentation to announce the measures, the second phase of the "Bigger Brazil" industrial policy the government announced last year. "But we can't remain inert while other nations practice hidden protectionism."
Jankiel Santos, chief economist at Espirito Santo Investment Bank, said that if the stimulus fails to lift industry then there's a risk Brazil could become a more closed economy.
"When you give incentives to this segment and not to that one, at the end of the day you may create distortions," Santos said in a phone interview from Sao Paulo. "The measures may help a few companies, but the impact for the economy as a whole is uncertain."
Currency Measures
While Mantega didn't say what currency measures the government is considering "the most important in relation to the currency aren't the measures that we've already taken but rather the measures that we still are going to take."
The real was the world's best performing major currency in the first two months of the year, prompting the government to raise taxes on foreign loans and bonds. Since the beginning of March the currency slid 5.9 percent, the biggest devaluation amid major currencies.
The yield on interest rate future contracts maturing in January 2013, the most traded in Sao Paulo, fell one basis points to 8.86 percent at 5:59 p.m. local time. The real gained 0.4 percent to 1.8246 per U.S. dollar.
'Monetary Tsunami'
Rousseff, a technocrat who took office in January 2011, has blamed loose lending conditions in Europe and the U.S. for unleashing what she in Germany last month called a "monetary tsunami" that is fueling currency gains and a narrowing of Brazil's trade surplus. At the same time she's also pushed for lower borrowing costs in Brazil, whose inflation-adjusted interest rates are the second-highest in the Group of 20 nations.
"We want lower rates and spreads in Brazil," she repeated again today.
Over the past year, the government has slapped higher tariffs on imports such as shoes, chemicals and textiles, and cracked down on customs fraud. Under pressure from automakers, Rousseff renegotiated a trade deal last month with Mexico that capped car imports for three years.
Today's production report shows that industry may be recovering after output fell 1.5 percent in January. Eighteen of 27 sectors monitored by the statistics agency expanded output in February, led by a 13.1 percent surge in auto production during the month. Assembly of capital goods, a barometer of investment, rose 5.7 percent after plunging 16.1 percent in January.
"Whatever the comparison with the international market, Brazilian goods are expensive," said Paulo Godoy, head of the Brazilian Association of Infrastructure and Basic Industries.
Brazilian producer are hurt by the currency, inadequate infrastructure and red tape, he said.
Still, the central bank sees the economy expanding only 3.5 percent this year and analysts surveyed by the bank see growth of only 3.2 percent. The government is targeting growth of 4.5 percent, Mantega reiterated today.
To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Luiza Rabello in Brasilia Newsroom at firstname.lastname@example.com; Carla Simoes in Brasilia Newsroom at firstname.lastname@example.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Goodman at firstname.lastname@example.com or


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Health Catalyst appoints Sorenson Capital's Bullock as board chair
Health Catalyst has named Fraser Bullock as chairman of the board of directors. Bullock replaces Dr. David A. Burton who is retiring as a board chairman but will remain as a senior vice president at Health Catalyst. Bullock is a co-founder and managing director at Sorenson Capital. Based in Salt Lake City, Health Catalyst is a provider of data and analytics that help healthcare organizations.


text:
KCLS Recommends: Children's - Diary of a Wimpy Kid Read-Alikes
Annotation:Nine-year-old Morgan needs the perfect stick for a slingshot. Rather than finding the stick, Morgan finds a new boy, Lewis, stranded in a tree, hanging by his underwear. The boys begin a friendship that involves aliens and sasquatches, since they live in the North West. Ages 9-12
Annotation:Miss Breakbone is not a very nice teacher, she confiscates everything from all her students but she goes too far when she takes Junkyard's kitten statue. The rest of the class, which she calls Dunderheads, helps him to get it back. Ages 8-10
Annotation:A fearful second grader in Concord, Massachusetts, learns about death when his grandfather's best friend dies and he offers to accompany his grandfather to the funeral. Ages 6-9
Annotation:Supremely confident middle-school student Nate Wright manages to make getting detention from every one of his teachers in the same day seem like an achievement. Ages 9-12
Annotation:Bright but unenthusiastic middle school student Charlie Joe Jackson signs up for the school play in an attempt to get straight A's on his last quarter report card and avoid having to go to Camp Rituhbukkee over the summer. Age 9-12
Annotation:When her best friend announces that she is moving away, Clarice Bean has a new entry for her "Worry" journal and hopes that something will happen to change things back to the way they were. Ages 7-10
Annotation:Is he a detective? Is he a ninja? Is he a cartoonist? No he is clueless! He is PJ McGee, telling his traveling father about his adventures at school and home. Ages 8-10
Annotation:The first book in the humorous series about Greg and his life in school, at home and with his friends using journal entries and drawings. Ages 8-13
Annotation:Dodo's mother gives her a blank notebook, which she uses to chronicle their move and the first days in a new city. Ages 8-10
Annotation:Danny Dragonbreath and his friend Wendell get an up-close underwater tour of the Sargasso Sea from Danny's sea-serpent cousin, encountering giant squid and sharks--and learn about standing up to bullies in the process. Ages 8-12
Annotation:Ellie pet-sits for her neighbor's African grey parrot Alix, about whom she is writing a report, while her family argues over whether to get a cat or a dog, and her little brother accidentally lets Alix out of his cage, all of which is chronicled in Ellie's ever-present sketchbook. Ages 8-10
Annotation:When almost-sixth-grader Alex, a video game fanatic, is forced on a "playdate" with his neighbor Herbert, an inventor, the two travel to the twenty-second century and face off against aliens, who are not as nice as most people think. Ages 8-12
Annotation:Four fifth-grade students--a geek, a class clown, a teacher's pet, and a slacker--as well as their teacher and mothers, each relate events surrounding a computer programmed to complete homework assignments. Ages 9-12
Annotation:Nikki Maxwell has been writing in a diary since the start of the school year, and she usually takes it everywhere she goes - so she can't believe it when one morning she can't find it! Ages 8-12
Annotation:Justin didn't get the teacher he wanted, he's not in the same class as his best friend, and his little sister, Elizabeth, is starting kindergarten at his school. Ages 7-10
Annotation:When their mother starts dropping them off at the library several afternoons a week, nine-year-old William and his brother dread boredom and the overbearing librarian, but they are surprised at how things turn out. Ages 7-10
Annotation:In her diary, middle school student Jamie Kelly describes her life at home and at school, including her attempts to triumph over her nemesis, the beautiful and popular Angeline. Ages 9-12
Annotation:Danny avoids trouble with the bullies by drawing tattoos and graffiti for them, until he's unknowingly drawn into a theft. Age 8-12
Annotation:Told entirely through notes, grocery receipts, and a vast array of other items, this story follows Ginny as she accidentally dyes her hair pink, throws live frogs in class, and loses the lead role in ballet to her ex-best friend. Ages 9-12
Annotation:Everyday, nine-year-old Otis Dooda confronts a series of zany changes when his father's new job prompts the family's move to a New York City apartment, where Otis is cursed by a guy in a potted plant in their apartment building lobby and has to team up with a new friend and a gassy miniature horse to break the curse. Ages 8-12
Annotation:Two best friends embark on a project to study the behavior and taste of the popular girls at their elementary school so that by the time they get to middle school they too will be in the right crowd. Ages: 10-13
Annotation:When Zeke, his twin sister Stephanie, their neighbor Hector, and Hector's cat Fitz slide into the world of Underwhere, Zeke is hailed as a prince who will, according to an ancient prophecy, free the Undies from the evil UnderLord's rule by finding and destroying his throne. Ages 8-12
Annotation:When the principal asks a fifth-grader to write a letter regarding the purchase of a new drinking fountain for their school, he finds that all sorts of chaos results. Ages 9-12
Annotation:When Daniel learns to control his shrinking, Pablo, his tiny twin, writes a list of fun things they can do, including riding in a model rocket near the La Brea Tar Pits, which teaches the brothers the importance of sticking together. Ages 8-12
Annotation:When one of his experiments makes supervillain Vordak the Incomprehensible younger, he comes out of retirement to launch his latest attempt to defeat Commander Virtue and rule the world, starting with Farding Junior High School. Ages 8-12
Annotation:Keeping themselves entertained is not a problem to Orville and Wilbur Riot as these two mischievous brothers can make an adventure out of the silliest things. Ages 6-9
Annotation:On his first day at Brooklyn's P.S. 858, fifth-grader Michael K. is teamed with two very strange students, and while he gradually comes to believe they are aliens who need his help, he has trouble convincing anyone else of the truth. Ages 7-11
Annotation:After flunking sixth-grade English, basketball prodigy Stanford Wong must struggle to pass his summer-school class, keep his failure a secret from his friends, and satisy his academically demanding father. Ages 9-12
Annotation:Stink and his friends try to earn money to buy the latest book in the Nightmare on Zombie Street series and go to the book release party. Ages 5-8
Annotation:Eight-year-old Julian Rodriguez escapes from the crisis of the moment (being sent to his room for not taking out the trash) by imagining he's a space warrior. Ages 6-9
Annotation:Thirteen-year-old Dave and his sidekick, a talking gecko named Sticky, try to retrieve an ancient Aztec powerband and its magic ingots from the evil villain, Damien Black. Ages: 9-12
Annotation:Rob's closet is full of junk and books but one day there is more than the unread books; a book character. It's a cross from two books he has tried to ignore and brings Rob a lot of grief or is it funny situations? Ages 8-12
Member of King County Library System
Send KCLS Children's Librarians: Read-Alike Booklists a Message Follow Ignore Report This ListDescription
More funny stories for the less eager readers about school and family, told through journal entries, drawings, letters, and more (ages 9-12)
Topic Guide


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January | February 2015
Hot TopiC
Top 5: State Issues
Top 5: Fiscal & Economic Issues
Top 5: Educational Issues
Top 5: Workforce Development Issues
Top 5: Transportation Issues
Top 5: Rural Issues
Top 5: Energy & Environment Issues
Top 5: International Issues
Top 5: Health Issues
Top 5: Federalism Issues
Looking Forward: After the Elections
CSG Tool Box
Regional ROundup
10 Questions
CSG South Chair David Ralston
CSG Midwest Chair Tim Flakoll
CSG East Co-Chairs Helene Keeley & David Sokola
CSG West Chair Nancy Todd
By the Book
The $3.1 Trillion Infusion
In the Know
Straight Talk
Leadership Corner
Stated Briefly
Shout Out
ERC Focuses on 'Weathering the Storm'
The Council of State Governments' Eastern Regional Conference in March brought together more than 80 state officials and staff from the Northeast for a special dialogue with a range of experts who are implementing innovative strategies for forging resiliency across the Northeast. To learn more about "Weathering the Storm: Moving Forward on Regional Resilience," visit the ERC website at
STUDY Prevent Bad Behavior in Schools, Don't Punish It
The Council of State Governments Justice Center in May released a nationwide study—"The School Discipline Consensus Report"—that suggests school officials focus on improving the learning environment rather than spending so much time dwelling on how to react to bad behavior. The study also shares a set of tools that can be used to minimize reactive punishment and maximize preventing bad behavior before it happens. Read the report at
MONTANA Program Wins NASFA Award
The National Association of State Facilities Administrators has named Montana's Architecture & Engineering Division and Energy, Pollution & Prevention Bureau as the winner of the 2014 Innovations Award for its program, "State Building Energy Conservation Program Implementation." NASFA'S Innovations Award, sponsored by CANNONDESIGN, honors programs that enhance efficiency and effectiveness in state government and the facilities profession.
NEI/NEXT Initiative
Nearly a third of all states set new records for export sales in 2013. This success has led the Obama administration to launch the NEI/NEXT initiative after the original National Export Initiative concluded in 2013.
Led by the Export Promotion Cabinet and the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee, the NEI/NEXT builds on the original initiative by providing a more tailored approach for U.S. companies looking to export by expanding access to export finance, connecting U.S. businesses to foreign customers and improving U.S. export-related services.
The Council of State Governments and State International Development Officers—or SIDO, a CSG affiliate—are engaged with the federal government to ensure a collaborative environment between state and government officials to make the program efficient and effective.
For more on NEI/NEXT, visit
SOUND SCIENCE What You Need to Know
Want data-driven solutions to your state's problems? CSG is here to help you make decisions based on sound science.
"A State Official's Guide to Science-based Decision-making"
gives state policymakers clear guidance on how to cut through the jargon and spin that often accompany technical issues.
The guide includes recommendations and helpful tools for policymakers, regardless of background, to confidently assess the assumptions, conclusions and results found in state public hearing witness testimony and scientific studies. The aim of the guide is not to suggest what to think; rather, the impetus is to provide a roadmap of how to approach an issue so state thought leaders can make the most informed decision possible.


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December 10, 2010
In October 2010, among metropolitan areas in the Midwest census region, Bismarck, North Dakota, recorded the lowest unemployment rate (2.7 percent).
The unemployment rate in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Michigan, was 13.3 percent, the second highest in the Midwest census region after Rockford, Illinois (14.4 percent).
Unemployment rates were lower in October than a year earlier in 77 of the 93 metropolitan areas in the Midwest census region.
In October, of all reporting metropolitan areas, the largest over-the-year percentage gain in employment occurred in a State within the Midwest census region—Manhattan, Kansas (+8.0 percent).
These data are from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics and Current Employment Statistics (State and Metro Area) programs. Data for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revision. To learn more, see "Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment — October 2010" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-10-1686. The Midwest BLS Information Office has links to additional data for the Midwest region.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Employment and unemployment in the Midwest, October 2010 on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2010/ted_20101210.htm (visited March 05, 2015).
Housing: before, during, and after the Great Recession
looks at consumer expenditures on household items, employment in residential construction, prices for household items, and injuries in occupations involved in building and maintaining our homes.
Women veterans in the labor force examines the demographic, employment, and unemployment characteristics of women veterans.
BLS Statistics by Occupation provides an overview of occupational employment and wages with an emphasis on STEM jobs and occupational data by typical entry-level education required.


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Within the past three days, three dueling polls have been released on the crowded Republican primary for Georgia's open Senate seat.
The first, conducted by SurveyUSA, showed businessman David Perdue leading Rep. Jack Kingston by a 6-point margin, 26-20%. They were followed by former Secretary of State Karen Handel at 15, Rep. Paul Broun at 11, and Rep. Phil Gingrey at 6.
That poll was conducted from April 24-27. From April 27-29 another poll, this one by InsiderAdvantage, was also in the field.
Released today, it again showed Perdue in the lead, this time with 22 percent. However, Handel claimed second with 21 to Kingston's 17. Broun clocked in at 14 percent.
Gingrey, meanwhile, doubled his share of support, drawing 12 percent. Handel, too, tallied 6 percentage points higher in InsiderAdvantage's survey of voters.
It's an outlier, too, in that it was the first poll over the last few months to show Kingston not claiming a runoff spot in a race surely headed that direction.
Within the hour, his campaign leaked an internal poll of its own. It showed the longtime congressman leading with 20 percent, to Perdue's 17. Handel was in third, but her 14 percent was a lesser total than she showed in either of the two earlier polls.
Meanwhile, Perdue still maintains a 5.3 percentage point edge in the Real Clear Politics average for the race, having led every poll released publicly since February, sans the Kingston internal survey.
Just nineteen days remain until the May 20th primary.


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Jan 21 2015
American Sniper
A FB friend posted a link to the following blog post: entitled "Why I almost walked out of American Sniper". No it's not a quote from Michael Moore-its a quote from a supporter of the country and the military. I can agree with her logic, up to a point :
You need to see this movie because you live in a bubble.
Stated plainly, we complain about dumb things most of the time. We live in comfort and freedom, and for the most part, we're blessed beyond measure. We complain about bad hair days and people who get on our nerves and when we run out of coffee or get cut off in traffic and the fact that we hate Mondays. And yet we have the opportunity to live in peace. Meanwhile, all over the globe, children are born into war zones and suffer unimaginable torment at the hands of Evil.
This is why I almost left during the movie. As a Social Studies teacher and a student of the world, I'm well aware of the atrocities committed throughout the world historically and in present day. But I've only read about them. I've only heard about them. I've never had to witness them with my own eyes. Sure, American Sniper is a movie and it's a dramatization of events, but it's realistic. It's horrible. And it truly shows how Evil is alive and working in our world.
Not only was I sobbing at various points throughout this movie, I found myself praying, "Come, Jesus. Come." I almost couldn't take it– this realistic depiction of evil. I don't want to believe that people are capable of doing such horrible things to each other, but they are. Oh, they are.
The bubble around me popped. You can't watch a movie like this, see the horrible things that man is willing to do to another man (or woman or child), not just in the name of a god or of an organization, but in the name of hatred, and go back to your cushy life and pretend the horror doesn't exist.
Our soldiers face this evil every day on the battlefield and they persevere. They press on. They fight it and try to protect freedom because that's one of our basic rights as humans. And they make split-second decisions that we pray we never, ever have to make. This is why we are grateful– because they have to make the decisions and carry out the actions we never, ever want to have to face.
It is right there at the end where her logic breaks down. Evil? Really? Then why are we not dispatching legions of American Snipers to the remaining six continents? Evil things are happening there every day but we do not stage armed interventions by equally brave men. And why don't we you ask?
Because we don't have the resources to solve every problem on the planet.
And because most of the time-its not in our national interest.
Evil exists all over this world. As we were fighting in Iraq, un-counted 1000's were dying in other wars in Africa of the twin evils of neglect and lack of resources to fight problems such as disease, bad infrastructure and starvation. Yet not once did the President rise to the podium in front of Congress and challenge us to go fight them. Chris Kyle and those like him were never sent out to help them. Nor should they have been.
And on those two points I must disagree with Jennifer Hale. Chris Kyle went through a lot. Of course his service should be honored as should that of every other soldier who served in this despicable and unnecessary conflicts throughout the first decade and a half of the 21 st century. If anything it proves James Fallow's point regarding "The tragedy of the American Military", namely that, "the American public and its political leadership will do anything for the military except take it seriously. The result is a chickenhawk nation in which careless spending and strategic folly combine to lure America into endless wars it can't win."
If we don't follow the statement through the logical question, namely "Why was Chris Kyle there in the first place and why did the nation so callously send him into a war the country had no business plunging into?" then we really are not honoring his sacrifices or worse yet learning real lessons from them. Cue Fallows again:
Too much complacency regarding our military, and too weak a tragic imagination about the consequences if the next engagement goes wrong, have been part of Americans' willingness to wade into conflict after conflict, blithely assuming we would win. "Did we have the sense that America cared how we were doing? We did not," Seth Moulton told me about his experience as a marine during the Iraq War. Moulton became a Marine Corps officer after graduating from Harvard in 2001, believing (as he told me) that when many classmates were heading to Wall Street it was useful to set an example of public service. He opposed the decision to invade Iraq but ended up serving four tours there out of a sense of duty to his comrades. "America was very disconnected. We were proud to serve, but we knew it was a little group of people doing the country's work."
"Either war is finished or we are" , says Herman Wouk. I fully agree with the sentiment. But I question whether the majority of Americans do. I think not. They will see the movie in a "yellow ribbon" kind of way- "the people at the [movie theater will] feel good about what they've done to show their support for the troops. " But they will never think the problem all the way through. They will never rise in righteous anger that Chris Kyle had to be sent there in the first place, endure the things he had to endure-and have it all matter for nothing. That's right nothing. Iraq is still a basket case, no better than when we found it. Because in the end , Chris Kyle was failed by his leadership, he was failed by his country and he was failed by the people of his country who never asked the probing questions that might have prevented the entire ordeal in the first place. As Kipling wrote after his son's death in the disaster that was the First World War, "If any question why we died/ Tell them, because our fathers lied."
We do the veterans no good service if we choose not learn from the effort-and solemnly resolve not to repeat the mistakes that placed them in such a harsh place to begin with. Without those questions, its not worth the time or the effort to contemplate the rest. We have to think it though to the end.


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text: Jaguar Rising Big Cat Resting Jaguar resting on tree trunk. A Hawk in Flight A hawk flying. A Stork's Nest Jabiru Stork in its nest. In the Mist Capybaras in the fog. Capybaras typically live near water sources. Herons in Flight Herons flying over the river. Time For a Drink Jabiru Stork with a chick. Wading In A marsh deer in the river. This species of deer is the largest on the continent of South America. Caiman Creeping A caiman in the river. Jabiru Stork A Jabiru stork flying. Jaguar Down By the River A jaguar on top of the roots of a tree by the river. Brazilian Sunset A sunset in Brazil. Capybara Family Capybara family on the side of the river. Nest bound Jabiru Stork flying and with sticks in it's beak. Carcara Hawk Carcara Hawk on the trunk of a tree. Stealthy Climber A jaguar climbing a tree trunk. Marsh Deer A marsh deer. This type of deer are decent swimmers. Eyes on the Prize A jaguar intensely watching something. Baby Capybaras Capybara suckling pups. The capybara is the largest rodent in the world. Lying in Wait Jaguar lying on the side of the river. Ready For a Cat Nap A jaguar yawning, by the side of a river. Jaguars actually enjoy swimming. 0 comments   Get Livefyre FAQ Sign in + Follow Post comment Link Newest | Oldest


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First, the U.S. National Electrical Code may or may not be appropriate!!! It's actually just a standards manual published by the (U.S.) National Fire Protection Association. LOCAL and/or State law may require adherence to either the NEC or some other electrical code. For example, in Chicago, the NEC is superceded by the Chicago Electrical code. see »egov.cityofchicago.org/ and navigate to / your Government / City Departments / Construction and Permits / References and Ordinances / Electrical code Here is the Wikipedia entry: »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_E ··· %28US%29 and a linky to the 2008 electrical code: »www.nfpa.org/freecodes/free_acce ··· %5Ftest= Additionally, here is the 2007 NFPA Fire Code »www.nfpa.org/freecodes/free_acce ··· ?id=7207 1 Feedback received on this FAQ entry:
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Sponsored by: Brakes Plus
May 25, 2011 4:20 PM by Gene Cotton
MIAMI (AP) - Mike Miller is heading to Chicago with concerns about his new daughter's health.
Miller and his wife welcomed a new daughter named Jaelyn last week, who has remained in the pediatric intensive care unit of a South Florida hospital. Miller says her condition is improving, and he plans to be with the Miami Heat when they visit the Chicago Bulls in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday night.
The Heat lead the series 3-1.
Miller came up huge for the Heat in Game 4, scoring 12 points off the bench. After the game, he returned to the hospital, staying there until 4 a.m. to be with his wife and daughter.
Miller says the baby "is doing good right now, and hopefully will continue to do better."
2 months ago


text: Following a drop of water down the mighty Colorado, one of the world's most embattled rivers. ByOctober 2011 facebook Print E-mail The Roaring Fork River, part of the Colorado basin, boasts some of the best fishing in the entire world. Pagesprevious 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 next Single page view Tags: Colorado River, Outdoors, Peter McBride, travel


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Was wondering whether it might be a decent idea to trade for Bly, I know that the guy is shouting his mouth off, but if the Saints have a 4th on the table shouldn't the Patriots be interested at that price. http://www.rotoworld.com/Content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=NFL&id=1809 Fits two problems, the Asante Samuel contract, also gives us depth. We could trade him to the Redskins too....either Samuel or Bly This is of course if the reports about him wanting away from Denver are true.
Who wants other team's problems? Patriots, like all other teams not in Washington and Denver, should stay clear of this mess. DRE BLY had a contract on the table with Washington, but was traded to Denver. Denver could care less if BLY wants to be there, because he is and he can't do anything about it. If I'm Denver, I'll listen with very little urgency to move BLY. Denver got there player and if someone else wants him, they will have to pay for him. Doubt a fourth will get it done, but I can't figure out why Washington doesn't just pass them Shawn Springs over to Denver and swap picks in the fourth round.


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Crack an egg, teach someone to drive a snowmobile, brew your own beer - Oregon cares. And it has a license for that. Business-owners in one of the most license-heavy states in the Union, need to carefully research the many requirements of their state, county and local governments before doing business. After all, you can't make an omelet without cracking a few eggs -- but you can't do that without applying and paying a fee.
In Oregon, a well drilling contractor installs and repairs water wells and pumps by boring, drilling, excavating, casing, cementing and cleaning to provide a supply of uncontaminated water.
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