Thanksgiving Cogitations

What was "Reformed" in the Reformation? If one wants to know what the Protestant Reformation was all about without reading huge volumes of historical literature, it is perhaps most clarifying to look at the theological results. One should specifically note the rediscovery of five critical biblical doctrines that had been obscured from public view by the medieval version of what we now know as the Roman Catholic Church. And just so you know, Rome still either openly opposes or seriously distorts these doctrines. Using the Latin names given to each, they are:

Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone): The Reformers were united in their belief that the Bible alone teaches all that is necessary for salvation and Christian living (cf. 2 Peter 1:1-4). They held the Word of God to be the only standard by which men's consciences may be bound. Rome, on the other hand, then and now, denies sola Scriptura by elevating Papal decrees and church tradition to what they say are equal (but are in reality greater) positions of authority than that of the Bible. Where the meaning of the Bible differs from the opinion of the Pope or official doctrine (as is very often the case) the Word of God plays a mute second fiddle.

Sola Gratia (by Grace alone): The reformers understood that salvation is not a cooperative event carried out by God and man working in partnership. In salvation, sinners are rescued from God's wrath by His grace alone (cf. Titus 3:3-7). God's grace is His spontaneous and unmerited favor, granted to the spiritually dead and helpless sinner through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. God mercifully releases those whom He is saving from their own willful bondage to sin and thus enables them to repent and believe (cf. John 3:3; 6:44; Rom. 8:6-8; 9:16). Interestingly, this point of doctrine is disputed today, not only by Rome, but also by many evangelicals.

Sola Fide (through Faith alone): "Justified" is the biblical term that describes a person as forgiven, not guilty, and perfectly righteous in God's sight. According to Scripture, justification is bestowed on the sinner by grace alone through faith alone, "not as a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Eph. 2:8-9; cf. Gal 2:16). According to official Roman Catholic dogma, however, using the word "alone" after the word "faith" will earn you a pronouncement of anathema (formal damnation). Rome actually forbids you to believe or repeat what the Bible plainly states! They insist that while justification begins with faith, it can only be completed through the sinner's personal effort. In Roman Catholic theology, one may not say, "Therefore, having been justified by faith," or "having now been justified by His blood" (the exact words of Paul in Romans 5:1 and 5:9, emphasis added). According to Rome, one may only believe that he is being justified - by faith plus works.

Solus Christus (because of Christ alone): The reformers understood that the salvation of God's people was the work of Jesus Christ alone. His death was a sufficient and effective sacrifice for sin (cf. Heb. 9:12, 26, 28; 10:12, 14). He is the only mediator between God and men (cf. 1 Timothy 2:5). Only Christ's righteousness (not the sinner's personal righteousness) merits the believing sinner's justification (2 Cor. 5:21). Rome, on the other hand, commands the performance of seven essential works of merit (sacraments) for justification. Rome also insists that Mary (not Jesus) is the dispenser of grace. While Rome denies that Christ's righteousness may be imputed to the believing sinner, Mary is said to have vast amounts of excess righteousness which can be imputed to sinners. This form of blasphemy against the Son of God is bad enough, but it culminates in blasphemy against God the Father - the idolatry of Mary worship. Mary is praised as the "co-redemptress" and "co-mediatrix" with Christ. Rome even refers to her in some places as the savior of mankind, the one who commands God to save whom she will.

Soli Deo Gloria (for the glory of God alone): It is obvious that in Roman Catholic theology Mary receives equal (if not greater) credit than God for the salvation of sinners. Rome openly glorifies her. Also, God is robbed of His glory by making the sinner the one who ultimately performs (via the sacraments) or suffers (via Purgatory) his own way into heaven. But the Bible insists, and the reformers recognized, that God saves sinners by Himself. Therefore He alone should receive all praise and glory. And the God of the Bible is a jealous God (cf. Ex. 20:5). He will not share His glory with another (cf. Isaiah 42:8; 48:11).

So what was reformed (or recovered) during the Protestant Reformation? In the final analysis, it was the gospel of God's grace. And the "church" that stole the gospel the first time will gladly do so again if Christians everywhere do not take seriously the command to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints" (Jude 3). -- Copyright © 2006 Daryl Wingerd. Permission granted for reproduction in exact form.

Comment: Cogitations include items written by others, shared because of the importance of the content in my judgment, usually something I wish I had said myself but most likely would not express as well.

** Sola scriptura; sola gratia; sola fide; solus Christus; soli Deus gloria; only Jesus saves. Email author-editor Dr. Warren Vanhetloo to begin subscription, ask questions, make comments, or request removal, at cbsvan[AT]sbcglobal[DOT]net

Are you glad or thankful?

To be thankful:

1. There must be an object of the thanksgiving and
   
2. That object must be personal and
   
3. The object of thankgiving must be the provider of the gift for which one is thankful.
   

Illustrations:

1. I am now relaxing in my leather recliner. The chair is comfortable. I am glad for my chair but it would not make sense to thank my chair for my comfort. The chair is impersonal.
   
2. I am glad I have a LL Bean robe (which I am now relaxing) provided to me by my Mother last Christmas. After Christmas, I thanked my Mother for the robe that she gifted me with! My Mother was the object of my thanksgiving. She is a person, she provided it, and I thanked her.
   

Observe Psalm 100:

1 Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness;
       Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the LORD, He is God;
       It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
       We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.      
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
       And into His courts with praise.
       Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the LORD is good;
       His mercy is everlasting,
       And His truth endures to all generations.

Note:

1. Consider His provision: Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,"
   
   
   
   1. Salvation through His grace
      
   2. A free gift
      
   3. Something that would could not obtain by our own works
      
   4. Though the work of our Savior (observe broader context of Ephesians 2:1-11)
      
   
   
2. Consider the Person: The gift of salvation is provided by the Person of God the Father, through God the Son, and applied by God the Holy Spirit. And so the object of thankgiving is Him alone!
   
3. And so thanksgiving is to Him: "Make a joyful shout to the LORD" (Psalm 100:1)
   

Some are simply glad! Glad for the meal, glad for the day off, glad for football and family.

The one who fears the Lord, is thankful to Him.

Can God use me?

When You Feel Like God Cannot Use You, Just Remember...

1. Noah was a drunk.
   
2. Abraham was too old.
   
3. Isaac was a daydreamer.
   
4. Jacob was a liar.
   
5. Leah was ugly.
   
6. Joseph was abused.
   
7. Moses had a stuttering problem.
   
8. Gideon was afraid.
   
9. Samson was a womanizer.
   
10. Rahab was a prostitute.
    
11. Jeremiah and Timothy were too young.
    
12. David had an affair and was a murderer.
    
13. Elijah was suicidal.
    
14. Isaiah preached naked.
    
15. Jonah ran from God.
    
16. Naomi was a widow.
    
17. Job went bankrupt.
    
18. John the Baptist ate bugs.
    
19. Peter denied Christ.
    
20. The disciples fell asleep while praying.
    
21. Martha worried about everything.
    
22. The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once.
    
23. Zaccheus was too small.
    
24. Paul was too religious.
    
25. AND...Lazarus was dead!
    

No more excuses now.

Comment: Sent to me by Jason Janz of Providence Bible Church, Denver

Drawing in Gravel is Great, but We Still Need Propositional Truth

Emeth Aletheia: Drawing in Gravel is Great, but We Still Need Propositional Truth

Good read!

Sad news

Yesterday I received double sad news.

1. I had a call from a close relative to say that her husband will be in hospice care with just weeks to live. Very heavy on my heart as this is someone whom I have known for over 40 years and whom I dearly love.
   
2. Also received news of a women I've worked closely with for the last year. She has inoperable terminal brain cancer.
   

James 4:14, "whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."

I had coffee with my friend Scott yesterday and he encouraged me.

Today Kathee and I have off (actually we have off work until Monday!). Kathee is already off to Lunds shopping. I have an errand today at Metro Womens Center.

Tonight we will be at Fourth Baptist for our Thanksgiving service.

My Brother and his wife are in Hawaii all week ... freezing here ....

Norway slaps Minneapolis!

For Children of Norway, a Rift With the Mother Country

Minneapolis Journal
For Children of Norway, a Rift With the Mother Country
By MONICA DAVEY
Published: November 20, 2007
Norway’s decision to shut its career consulate in Minneapolis has upset residents of the Upper Midwest, which is home to more Norwegian-Americans than any other region of the country.

Excerpts:

“This is a bit of a slap in the face,” Janet Rog, 74, said of Norway’s recent announcement that it would shut its career consulate here next year and send the diplomats home.

The consulate, opened in 1906 and upgraded in 1946 to its current status as consulate general, is a point of pride for the Upper Midwest, which is home to more Norwegian-Americans than any other region of the country.


....


Norwegian officials say their decision to close the consulate, which handles a nine-state region, is simply a matter of money. Jannicke Jaeger, an official at the Norwegian Embassy in Washington, said it cost about $2 million a year to operate the consulate. While it will be closing in 2008, new ones will be opening in China, where the economy is booming, and in Spain, where many Norwegians retire.

....

“It’s silly to think that this place is somehow going to break the budget for Norway,” said Anne Kanten, a resident of Milan, Minn., which calls itself Norwegian Capital U.S.A. “What’s more Norwegian than Minnesota, anyway?”

Three other Norwegian career consulates in the United States will remain open, in New York, San Francisco and Houston. Embassy officials defend those choices as strategic; Houston, for instance, has significance for Norway’s oil interests.

For Minnesotans, that is one more rub.

“Houston?” asked the 80-year-old Mrs. Amundson, laughing faintly. “Houston, Texas?”

Ingebretsen's Scandinavian Center

Big bugs!

Scientist finds fossilized claw of man-sized sea scorpion

Excerpt:

British scientists have stumbled across a fossilized claw, part of an ancient sea scorpion, that is of such large proportion it would make the entire creature the biggest bug ever.

How big? Bigger than you, and at 8 feet long as big as some Smart cars.

The discovery in 390-million-year-old rocks suggests that spiders, insects, crabs and similar creatures were far larger in the past than previously thought, said Simon Braddy, a University of Bristol paleontologist and one of the study's three authors.

"This is an amazing discovery," he said Tuesday.

"We have known for some time that the fossil record yields monster millipedes, super-sized scorpions, colossal cockroaches, and jumbo dragonflies. But we never realized until now just how big some of these ancient creepy-crawlies were," he said.

The research found a type of sea scorpion that was almost half a yard longer than previous estimates and the largest one ever to have evolved.

Wikipedia: Sea Scorpion

Comment: I believe the fact (giant fossil found) but not the hypothesis (390 million .... evolution, etc). "it was much longer than today's average man is tall" - Creepy!

Loan Crisis Entangles Freddie Mac

Loan Crisis Entangles Freddie Mac

Business
Loan Crisis Entangles Freddie Mac
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
Published: November 21, 2007
Losses at the big mortgage finance company on Tuesday underscored the continuing turmoil in the housing industry.

Excerpt:

Freddie Mac, the big mortgage finance company, posted a $2 billion loss for the third quarter and warned that it might not have enough capital on hand to cover the mandatory reserves for its mortgage commitments.

The company has been battered by a rising wave of foreclosures tied to subprime mortgage defaults, and it is “seriously considering” cutting its stock dividend.

Freddie’s misfortune is particularly rattling because the company is considered something of a backstop for the lending industry. With its implied guarantee of government backing, the housing market looks to Freddie, and its bigger sibling, Fannie Mae, to provide stable credit and financing for a wide swath of mortgages.

But yesterday’s earnings report showed that even the gold standard of lending agencies was not immune to the toxic subprime securities that have infected much of the market.

Wikipedia: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation

Excerpt:

The FHLMC was created in 1970 to expand the secondary market for mortgages in the United States. Along with other GSEs, Freddie Mac buys mortgages on the secondary market, pools them, and sells them as mortgage-backed securities to investors on the open market.

This secondary mortgage market helps to replenish the supply of lendable money for mortgages and ensures that money continues to be available for new home purchases. The name "Freddie Mac" is a creative acronym-portmanteau of the company's full name that has been adopted officially for ease of identification.

Historic dive to the Carl D. Bradley

Two Minnesota divers make Lake Michigan history

After two local divers, John Janzen and John Scoles, met the last remaining survivor of a 1950s Lake Michigan shipwreck, they knew they had to dive to the site about 370 feet below the surface.

In 2004 at a diving and shipwreck show in Minneapolis, Janzen of Champlin and Scoles of Farmington met Frank Mays, who was 26 when the freighter Carl D. Bradley sank on Nov. 18, 1958.


CARL D. BRADLEY

The Bradley Transportation Company of Rogers City, Michigan, had the largest self-unloading steel steamer on the Great Lakes built in 1927 and named her CARL D. BRADLEY after the President and Director of the firm. She served in the limestone and coal trades her entire career on the inland seas and set many cargo records in the process. The self-unloading type freighter was not rare on the Lakes at that time. That type of carrier had been in existence since the turn of the century but it had been perfected in the BRADLEY. She was by far the largest carrier on the Lakes at that time as well as being the largest self-unloader. It was a proud day for the citizens of Rogers City when she first steamed into port on her maiden voyage. The majority of her crew were from that small Northern Michigan port and the ship proved her worth to her owners over the next quarter century of her existence. Her days of service came to an end in a violent storm on Lake Michigan on November 18, 1958. She had left the lower Lake Michigan port of Gary bound for Rogers City in ballast and was buffeted by gale force winds almost immediately after her departure. Heavy seas washed over the bow but the BRADLEY held course towards the northern part of the Lake. At approximately 5:30 that evening she broke in two and sank almost immediately off Gull Island.



Wikipedia: SS Carl D. Bradley

Expedition '97 to the CARL D. BRADLEY

Comments: 2 b/w pics of the ship with the 2nd link!

Saudi "clarification"

Saudi: Why we punished rape victim

Excerpt:

The case, which has sparked media scrutiny of the Saudi legal system, centers on a married woman. The 19-year-old and an unrelated man were abducted, and she was raped by a group of seven men more than a year ago, according to Abdulrahman al-Lahim, the attorney who represented her in court.

The woman was originally sentenced in October 2006 to 90 lashes. But that sentence was more than doubled to 200 lashes and six months in prison by the Qatif General Court, because she spoke to the media about the case, a court source told Middle Eastern daily newspaper Arab News.

Previous CFG post

Precious (comment by Susan (Sound-off section at the bottom of the article)):

What is wrong with these men? How can they treat their mothers, daughters, sisters and wives like dirt? It is barbaric.

Comment: See "Precious" above. My view too!

SCOTUS to take 2nd Amendment case

Supreme Court Will Hear D.C. Guns Case

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will decide whether the District of Columbia can ban handguns, a case that could produce the most in-depth examination of the constitutional right to "keep and bear arms" in nearly 70 years.

The justices' decision to hear the case could make the divisive debate over guns an issue in the 2008 presidential and congressional elections.

The government of Washington, D.C., is asking the court to uphold its 31-year ban on handgun ownership in the face of a federal appeals court ruling that struck down the ban as incompatible with the Second Amendment. Tuesday's announcement was widely expected, especially after both the District and the man who challenged the handgun ban asked for the high court review.

The main issue before the justices is whether the Second Amendment of the Constitution protects an individual's right to own guns or instead merely sets forth the collective right of states to maintain militias. The former interpretation would permit fewer restrictions on gun ownership.

Gun-control advocates say the Second amendment was intended to insure that states could maintain militias, a response to 18th century fears of an all-powerful national government. Gun rights proponents contend the amendment gives individuals the right to keep guns for private uses, including self-defense.

Alan Gura, a lawyer for the D.C. residents who challenged the ban, said he was pleased that the justices were considering the case.

"We believe the Supreme Court will acknowledge that, while the use of guns can be regulated, a complete prohibition on all functional firearms is too extreme," Gura said. "It's time to end this unconstitutional disaster. It's time to restore a basic freedom to all Washington residents."


Previous CFG post: Will the Supremes take D.C. 2nd Amendment case?

Prediction: Either 5-4 or 6-3 to overturn the District of Columbia's stringent handgun ban.

NRA-ILA: U.S. Supreme Court to Hear First Second Amendment Case Since 1939

NYTimes: Justices Will Decide if Handgun Kept at Home Is Individual Right

Excerpts:

Because none of the justices now on the court have ever confronted a Second Amendment case, any prediction about how the court will rule is little more than pure speculation.

Of the hundreds of gun regulations on the books in states and localities around the country, the district’s ordinance is generally regarded as the strictest. Chicago comes the closest to it, banning the possession of handguns acquired since 1983 and requiring re-registration of older guns every two years. New York City permits handgun ownership with a permit issued by the Police Department.

The District of Columbia ordinance not only bans ownership of handguns, but also requires other guns that may be legally kept in the home, rifles and shotguns, to be disassembled or kept under a trigger lock. The capital’s newly empowered City Council enacted the ordinance in 1976 as one of its first measures after receiving home-rule authority from Congress.

....

In striking down the district’s ordinance, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said that an individual-right interpretation of the Second Amendment would still permit “reasonable regulations,” but that a flat ban was not reasonable.

Dennis A. Henigan, a lawyer at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which advocates strict gun control, said that if the justices agree with the appeals court, an important question for future cases will be “what legal standard the court will eventually adopt for evaluating other gun regulations.”

Bogus software awards!

The software awards scam



Comment: Interesting. Someone on SharperIron linked over to this.

Home buying is complex

Robert Steel, undersecretary for domestic finance: Mortgage Providers Must Be Clear

Excerpt:

At the town hall forum in Minneapolis sponsored by Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., Steel said home buying is complex.

"Mortgage providers must offer clear, transparent and understandable information on the mortgage products they sell," Steel said. "And home buyers have a responsibility to use that information and understand their mortgages."

In the prepared remarks, Steel said housing and mortgage markets adjustments are occurring "against a backdrop of healthy U.S. fundamentals and strong global economy."

He said a "significant number" of homeowners will be affected by challenges in the housing market and many could face foreclosure.

About 2 million subprime mortgages will reset in the next 18 months, but not all of those will end in foreclosure, Steel said. Some homeowners will be able to afford their new payments; many others will qualify for a refinanced, fixed-rate mortgage, he said.

Some homeowners went beyond their means or made bets on the housing market, purchasing multiple houses expecting to make a profit, Steel said. "For many of these borrowers, foreclosure is inevitable," he said. "And let me be clear _ we have no interest in bailing out speculators. Our concern is for the Americans who are struggling to make payments on their primary residence."


Comment: Home buying is complex, the process should not be dumbed down to avoid the details!

The NFL Thanksgiving Classic

The Insider: Why Detroit, Dallas get Turkey day benefit

Wikipedia: Thanksgiving Classic

Comment: If you are a fan of the NFL, these are interesting reads. Because we have family that lives in Dallas (actually Arlington), the Dallas game is always an interest to us. And because I went to seminary in Michigan; for several desperate, disappointing years (desparate and disappointing only about football!), we were Detroit Lions fans. Kathee and I went to the Thanksgiving classic in Detroit (the Pontiac Superdome) in 1979 (the Lions upset the Bears 20-0).

NFL scores - 1979 (PDF)

Lions 1979 details

Nov. 22, 1979 - The Lions shocked Chicago and a national television audience on Thanksgiving Day, blanking the playoff-bound Bears, 20-0. Jeff Komlo highlighted the day for Detroit, shaking off three interceptions and passing for 244 yards and one TD. Rick Kane picked up 67 yards and plowed over from one-yard out for a TD. Detroit held Walter Payton to 54 yards and Al "Bubba" Baker picked up four of the club's five sacks. The shutout was Detroit's first in 40 Turkey Day appearances and stuck Chicago with its only loss in the season's last eight weeks.

Kiplinger: Mortgage crisis forecast

Mortgages: How Long Till Daylight?

Excerpt:

The subprime mortgage crisis is going to take most of 2008 to clear up. Hardly a day goes by without a major lender announcing a multibillion-dollar write-down on the value of mortgages and mortgage-backed securities in its possession. The cascade of bad news spells big trouble for banks' earnings in coming quarters as well as a continuing drag on the stock market and the economy in general.

In the meantime, a huge chunk of the mortgage market -- namely, subprime and other higher-risk loans -- will be frozen, sapping demand for housing and imposing continued downward pressure on the pace of construction and sales. The risky loan category rose from only 7% of outstanding mortgage debt in 2000 to almost 25% this year.

Comment: Others think it will take 2 years to clear!

ING acquires Sharebuilder

ING Direct to Acquire Sharebuilder

ING Direct will spend $220 million in cash to buy Sharebuilder, a unique Bellevue, WA-based discount brokerage, with upwards of 2 million accounts across 660,000 customers ....

Many (most??) of Sharebuilder's accounts have come through co-branded programs with 40 banks and 140 credit unions including National City Bank and Boeing Employees Credit Union. It's biggest brand name partner is Wells Fargo, which not coincidentally, is also an investor in the company.

Comment: Wow! Sharebuilder is a great service!

DowBlog: Sermons in the Wild

Sermons in the Wild

Comments: Humorous! Glad this is not found at Fourth Baptist Church!

SQL Server 2005 conversion

I am working on a SQL Server 2005 conversion of a website (from 2000) and today was frustrating.

I have two environments: basically test and production. We can have three: dev, preview, and production. I use our preview enviroment as my development (test) environment.

What's working:

1. Our web resource (conversion coordinator) copied my production 2000 database to SQL 2005 test. Checked out OK
   
2. I can connect my local Cold Fusion server to this environment. I had an issue there but we worked through that.
   
3. I downloaded SQL Server 2005 Express from Microsoft. I need to have what is called "Management Studio" (replaces the old "Enterprise Manager"). I can connect with my database tables fine.
   

What is not working:

1. Turns out I need to full edition of SQL Server 2005 (not just the "Express" version to have the fully functional Management Studio. I cannot get this to install.
   
2. I've tried this three times, and it fails on the final step. The log file is of no apparent help to me.
   

I've ordered SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition from Amazon. Hopefully this will resolve.

Kevin Everett released

Bills TE Everett released from Houston rehab center

Excerpt:

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Bills tight end Kevin Everett has been released from a Houston hospital to resume his next phase of rehab, 10 weeks since sustaining a severe spinal cord injury.

"While this news is a significant milestone for me, I still have a long journey to full recovery," Everett said in a statement released Sunday by Houston's Memorial Hermann/TIRR, where the player spent the past two months in rehab.

It was unclear when this week he was released, but Everett will continue his rehab at the facility as an outpatient.

"I was fortunate to meet many extraordinary people at Memorial Hermann/TIRR, many who have suffered the same or similar injury as myself, many of whom I now consider friends," Everett said. "Their courage and determination inspired me to fight every day for recovery of my ability to walk."


Previous Kevin Everett posts

Comment: Of special interest to me.

Fleeing 'the world's largest prison'

Leaving North Korea at any price

Excerpt:

Brokers here are busily selling what they call "planned escapes" from North Korea.

Given enough money, the brokers say, they can now get just about anyone out of the dictatorial Stalinist state that human rights activists call the world's largest prison.

A low-budget escape through China via Thailand to Seoul, which requires treacherous river crossings, arduous travel on foot and several miserable weeks in a Thai immigration jail, can cost less than $2,000, according to four brokers here.

Comment: Money talks in this process!

Recycling a rape allegation (20 yrs later)

Report: Family wants Tawana Brawley case reopened

Excerpt:

Glenda Brawley and Ralph King want to press New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to re-examine the November 1987 incident, which a state grand jury ultimately concluded was a hoax, the Daily News reported.

"New York state owes my daughter. They owe her the truth," said Glenda Brawley. She reiterated her stance that her daughter was indeed raped by a group of white men who smeared her with feces and scrawled racial epithets on her body.

Wikipedia: Tawana Brawley rape allegations

Comment: I remember well the race-charged tensions 20 years ago. After months of media attention, and a thorough grand jury, the allegations were never substantiated. The Wikipedia article has links to extensive documentation discrediting Tawana Brawley's claim that she'd been raped by white law enforcement officers. Yet 20 years later, her parents (why not her? She is a 35 year old adult!) want to have the issue rehashed. Waste of time! Someone wants either money, media attention, or both!

Can economic theory address criminal punishment?

Does Death Penalty Save Lives? A New Debate

National
Does Death Penalty Save Lives? A New Debate
By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: November 18, 2007
Studies indicating that executions are a deterrent against future murders have been the subject of sharp criticism.

Excerpt:

According to roughly a dozen recent studies, executions save lives. For each inmate put to death, the studies say, 3 to 18 murders are prevented.

The effect is most pronounced, according to some studies, in Texas and other states that execute condemned inmates relatively often and relatively quickly.

The studies, performed by economists in the past decade, compare the number of executions in different jurisdictions with homicide rates over time — while trying to eliminate the effects of crime rates, conviction rates and other factors — and say that murder rates tend to fall as executions rise. One influential study looked at 3,054 counties over two decades.

Comment: Is capital punishment a disincentive to crime? Studies say ..... "Yes"

Saudi justice: punish the victim

Saudi punishes gang rape victim with 200 lashes

Intro:

A court in the ultra-conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia is punishing a female victim of gang rape with 200 lashes and six months in jail, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

The 19-year-old woman -- whose six armed attackers have been sentenced to jail terms -- was initially ordered to undergo 90 lashes for "being in the car of an unrelated male at the time of the rape," the Arab News reported.

Comment: Illustrates the Islamic low view of women!

“Autos Katrina”

Katrina-ravaged cars being sold in Bolivia

Excerpt:

Suspected Katrina cars — with their jittery wiring, sand in the cracks and the telltale mildewed stink — have cropped up in a number of countries, but Bolivia has become a particular target. One local environmental agency believes 10,000 or more flooded U.S. cars may have ended up in the landlocked nation, drawn by loose import rules, a thriving smugglers’ economy and an insatiable hunger for cheap wheels.

Comment: Trace the history of a cute red Mini Cooper from a graduation gift, to New Orleans, to Bolivia! I'm sure the Bolivians appreciate this!

Electrum in Ezekiel

First coins were more than just currency

Excerpt:

The world's first coins appeared around 600 B.C., jingling around in the pockets of the Lydians, a kingdom tied to ancient Greece and located in modern-day Turkey. They featured the stylized head of a lion and were made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver.

Wikipedia: Electrum

Excerpt:

Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Colour ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver. Gold content of naturally-occurring electrum in modern Western Anatolia ranges from 70% to 90% in contrast to the 45-55% of electrum used in ancient Lydian coinage of the same geographical area.

Electrum was used as early as the third millennium BC in Old Kingdom Egypt, sometimes as an exterior coating to the pyramidions atop ancient Egyptian pyramids and obelisks.

Electrum was also used in the making of ancient drinking vessels and coins.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Electrum

The Revised Version, margin rendering of chashmal, of Ezekiel 1:4,27; 8:2 Septuagint elektron, Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 AD.) electrum). Both the King James Version and the English Revised Version have "amber" while the American Standard Revised Version has "glowing metal." Gesenius says electrum must not be understood as being here used for amber, but for a kind of metal remarkable for brightness, compounded of gold and silver. "Amber" is undoubtedly a poor rendering, as the Hebrew term means "polished brass." the American Standard Revised Version has the more correct rendering. Amber, however, may well have been known to Ezekiel (Encyclopaedia Biblica).

Ezekiel 1:4; Ezekiel 1:27; Ezekiel 8:2 (English Standard Version)

Comment: Image from Wikipedia

The largest stagecoach order ever

30 coaches

Comments: From the Wells Fargo blog. Click on the "postcard" image to enlarge. Fun for the family: visit a Wells Fargo museum (click link for locations). I've been to the Los Angeles Wells Fargo museum (I was in L.A. on business several years ago).

Subprime macroeconomic shock

Goldman Sees Subprime Cutting $2 Trillion in Lending

Excerpts:

The slump in global credit markets may force banks, brokerages and hedge funds to cut lending by $2 trillion and trigger a ``substantial recession'' in the U.S., according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Losses related to record home foreclosures using a ``back- of-the-envelope'' calculation may be as high as $400 billion for financial companies, Jan Hatzius, chief U.S. economist at Goldman in New York wrote in a report dated yesterday. The effects may be amplified tenfold as companies that borrowed to finance their investments scale back lending, the report said.

``The likely mortgage credit losses pose a significantly bigger macroeconomic risk than generally recognized,'' Hatzius wrote. ``It is easy to see how such a shock could produce a substantial recession'' or ``a long period of very sluggish growth,'' he wrote.

Goldman's forecast reduction in lending is equivalent to 7 percent of total U.S. household, corporate and government debt, hurting an economy already beset by the slowing housing market. Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf said yesterday that the property market is the worst since the Great Depression.

....

Hatzius said his report is based on a ``conservative estimate'' of financial companies cutting lending by 10 times the loss to their capital. Investors realizing half of the potential losses, at $200 billion, would have to scale back lending by $2 trillion, he said.

....

Goldman's outlook matches forecasts by Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel-prize winning former World Bank economist, who said in an interview today that the U.S. faces a ``very major slowdown, maybe recession'' because of a ``consumption binge'' fueled by household borrowing.

``What it all comes down to is that Joe Six-Pack has been taking equity out of his house and supporting the U.S. economy,'' said Simon Ballard, global credit strategist at ABN Amro Asset Management in London. ``Now house prices are correcting, the bubble is deflating. You're going to see the engine of global growth significantly weaker.''

Comments: I feel like I am living out my degree in Economics watching this unfold!

Mexico has it right!

Driver's licenses for migrants? Not in Mexico

Excerpt:

The question of whether to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants ignited a national debate in the United States. But in Mexico, the largest source of U.S. immigrants, there's no question: Here, you must be a legal resident to get a driver's license.

All of Mexico's 31 states, along with Mexico City, require foreigners to present a valid visa if they want a driver's license, according to a survey of states by The Arizona Republic.

"When it comes to foreigners, we're a little more strict here," said Alejandro Ruíz, director of education at the Mexican Automobile Association.

Comment: Contrast the bonehead NY Governer's idea (since abandoned!): Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan

Indicted one season too late

Bonds' indictment sparks talk throughout baseball

Excerpt:

Barry Bonds, baseball's all-time leading home run hitter, was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on charges of perjury and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about using steroids.

The indictment in San Francisco probably ends the 43-year-old slugger's career three months after he broke Hank Aaron's home run record under a cloud of suspicion about whether Bonds had taken performance-enhancing drugs. Now Bonds — a hulking symbol of an era in baseball that featured booming home runs and questions about whether steroids were tainting the game's integrity — could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

The indictment stems from a four-year probe into steroid use by athletes who got supplements from a firm known as the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO). Bonds, formerly an outfielder for the San Francisco Giants, faces four perjury counts and one count of obstructing justice stemming from his testimony to a federal grand jury in December 2003.

During that grand jury appearance, the indictment says, Bonds repeatedly was asked whether he had received anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and other performance-enhancers from a longtime friend — and whether Bonds had used such substances. The indictment recounts more than a dozen denials by Bonds during his testimony and alleges that they were lies.

See CFG: * Ball

Comment: Too bad he was not indicted before he broke Aaron's HR record! Barry and Pete Rose ... 2 guys who should never be in the Hall of Fame

Bonds won't make Hall of Fame, but records should stand

Excerpt:

Barry Bonds, if convicted, faces up to 30 years in prison (a year or two would be more likely) and the loss of whatever chance he had, after years of alleged steroid use, of enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. The churlish, bulky slugger — Major League Baseball's all-time home run leader — has been indicted by a federal grand jury on perjury and obstruction of justice charges.

Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hits king, served time in prison on tax evasion charges and is stuck with a lifetime ban from the game and, for all practical purposes, from Cooperstown for violating rules against gambling.

When Pigs Fly and Monkeys Type

When Pigs Fly and Monkeys Type

Excerpt:

Stephen Hawking in his A Brief History Of Time taught the world that given enough time, monkeys hammering away on typewriters could type out a Shakespeare sonnet. It is a nice adage but totally off base, at least within the reality of our world. ...

Comment: Thanks to Frank Sansone @ A Thinking Man's Thoughts

Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

Today's verse on my heart:

Genesis 18:25: "Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”"

Our God is the righteous Judge of all men!

Compare:

Ecclesiastes 3:17, I said in my heart,“ God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

2 Timothy 4:8, Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Also reflected upon:

Psalm 42:1, "As the deer pants for the water brooks,So pants my soul for You, O God."

AND

John 4:23,24, "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

---

Today's happenings:

1. I met Colleen Tronson, Director of MWC, for coffee to review the annual event last night and discuss the email conversion.
   
2. I converted the metrowomenscenter.org domain over to Gmail.
   
3. Had a late lunch with Roger at Old Chicago.
   
4. Grocery shopped with Kathee.
   

Bank fees for PIN card transactions

DEBIT-CARD PURCHASERS PENALIZED FOR PIN USE

Excerpt:

"Debit or credit" is a misleading question. While all the plastic in your wallet looks the same, most of us carry around three different ways to pay: a regular credit card, a bank/ATM/debit/cash card that can be used with a PIN code to buy things at retail stores (PIN-debit transactions) and a bank/ATM/debit/cash card that can be used with a signed slip to buy things (signature debit). It's the last two we're concerned with here.

Comments: a good read. I personally think it is borderline unethical to charge customers for PIN-based transactions. Caveat Emptor! For us ... we do not do debit card transactions. Why? We have rewards programs with our credit cards!

Wells Fargo investor presentation

Wells Fargo: Investor Presentations

Select:

Merrill Lynch 2007 Banking & Financial Services Conference
Presentation by John Stumpf
President & CEO
November 15, 2007

Comment: If you are interested in banking and investments, this 46 page PDF (of a Power Point presentation) is very interesting.

---

Life:

1. Kathee and I were at the Metro Womens Center annual event tonight. Very good speakers, testimonies, special music, and fellowship.
   
2. MWC elected new board members and we are privileged to have two exceptional young women join the board.
   
3. Kathee and I have the day off tomorrow. I hope to make an email conversion of the MWC email over to Gmail. I think I have it all set up and the conversion should be simple.
   

Housing worst since Great Depression?

Wells Fargo: Housing worst since Great Depression

NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Chief Executive John Stumpf on Thursday said the U.S. housing market is in its worst slump since the Great Depression, but the second-largest U.S. mortgage lender has only small exposure to securities that have caused mounting losses at some rivals.

Speaking at a Merrill Lynch & Co banking conference, Stumpf said he has experienced three housing cycles, "and this is the worst I've seen." He called the current downturn the "steepest, fastest, most prolonged decline in residential real estate that we've seen in a very long time," with home prices falling "deeper and faster" than expected.

While saying "Wells Fargo is not immune from the economic environment," Stumpf said the bank has "minimal" exposure to the asset-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations that have resulted in more than $40 billion of write-downs industrywide.

Comment: Barclays joins write-down club:

Barclays to Make $2.7 Billion Write-Down

Business / World Business
Barclays to Make $2.7 Billion Write-Down
By JULIA WERDIGIER
Published: November 16, 2007
The write-down on securities related to the U.S. subprime mortgage market was lower than expected, calming investors who had recently sold shares of the bank.

Access 2007 class

I took a one day class on Microsoft Access 2007 at Hennepin Technical College today. Hennepin Technical College has a Customized Training Center in Plymouth.

Today was a fairly easy day. I left for training at 8:10 am and was home at 3:15. Kathee packed a lunch for me and I drove to Parker's Lake and ate in my truck.

Back to work tomorrow.

List: Writedowns and losses at major global banks

Writedowns and losses at major global banks

Comment: Total now $ 50 Billion!

HSBC write-down

HSBC Takes $3.4 Billion Charge in U.S.

Excerpt:

LONDON (AP) -- HSBC Holdings PLC will take a $3.4 billion charge against third-quarter profits because of accelerating losses at its HSBC Finance Corp. mortgage business in the United States, the company said Wednesday.

That is $1.4 billion (960 million euros) more than expected based on first-half trends, and the bank said it was shutting another 260 branches in the U.S. consumer finance division.

HSBC warned that the subprime crisis could deepen and said further volatility as a result of the credit crunch was ''more than a remote possibility''

''There is the probability of further deterioration if the current housing market distress continues and further impacts the broader economy,'' the company said.

The 2.3 billion-euro charge follows last year's $10.6 billion bad debt exposure, which led to HSBC's first-ever profit warning.

Comment: HSBA.L ... trades on the NYSE as HBC

Good News: Housing’s Down ...

Good News: Housing’s Down, Market’s Off, Oil’s Up

Economic Scene
Good News: Housing’s Down, Market’s Off, Oil’s Up
By DAVID LEONHARDT
Published: November 14, 2007
Recent economic developments probably will not turn out to be as bad as you think. Some are downright welcome.

Excerpt:

Too often, we think about the economy without nuance. We treat it as a local sports team that is either winning or losing, up or down. We’re always supposed to be rooting for stocks and homes to become more valuable and for oil and overseas vacations to become more affordable.

But that’s not quite right. There are real downsides to an economy full of expensive assets and inexpensive resources. There are also a lot of people who are better off because of the recent turmoil. You may well be one of them.

The best place to start is the stock market, because it’s the most counterintuitive. The notion that anybody but a sophisticated Wall Street short-seller should be hoping that stocks fall sounds, frankly, bizarre. But it’s true: a huge chunk of the population — including most people under the age of 50 — has benefited from this year’s market drop.


Comment: Good for investors and prospective home buyers!

Spitzer changes his mind. Will Hillary flip again?

N.Y. governor abandons driver's licenses for illegal immigrants

Excerpts:

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer will withdraw a controversial plan that would have allowed undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, a spokeswoman told CNN Tuesday night.
....
Critics have accused presidential hopeful and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton of failing to take a definitive stance on the issue.
....
Hillary: "We have several million at any one time who are in New York illegally," Clinton said. "So what Gov. Spitzer is trying to do is to fill the vacuum.

John Fund: Why does Mrs. Clinton want driver's licenses for illegal aliens?

Excerpt:

Sen. Hillary Clinton was asked during a debate this week if she supported New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. At first she seemed to endorse the idea, then claimed, "I did not say that it should be done, but I certainly recognize why Governor Spitzer is trying to do it."

The next day she took a firmer stand (sort of) by offering general support for Gov. Spitzer's approach, but adding that she hadn't studied his specific plan. She should, and so should the rest of us. It stops just short of being an engraved invitation for people to commit voter fraud.

The background here is the National Voter Registration Act, commonly known as "Motor Voter," that President Bill Clinton signed into law in 1993. It required all states to offer voter registration to anyone getting a driver's license. One simply fills out a form and checks a box stating he is a citizen; he is then registered and in most states does not have to show any ID to vote.

But no one checks if the person registering to vote is indeed a citizen. That greatly concerns New York election officials, who processed 245,000 voter registrations at DMV offices last year. "It would be [tough to catch] if someone wanted to . . . get a number of people registered who aren't citizens and went ahead and got them drivers' licenses," says Lee Daghlian, spokesman for New York's Board of Elections. Assemblywoman Ginny Fields, a Long Island Democrat, warns that the state's "Board of Elections has no voter police" and that the state probably has upwards of 500,000 illegal immigrants old enough to drive.

Comment: Read the full John Fund article for the true danger of driver's licenses for illegal aliens - voter fraud and .... worse ... terrorism!

Quote (Fund article): "After 9/11, the Justice Department found that eight of the 19 hijackers were registered to vote."

Updated: Clinton Says No to Licenses for Illegals

"I support Governor Spitzer's decision today to withdraw his proposal," Clinton said in a statement. "As president, I will not support driver's licenses for undocumented people and will press for comprehensive immigration reform that deals with all of the issues around illegal immigration including border security and fixing our broken system."

The Supreme Court is at stake!

High court matters in '08 vote

Excerpt:

Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani knows how important the U.S. Supreme Court is. He ought to; he once argued a case there. It was in 1983, and he won it for the Gipper — President Reagan — in a case that strengthened the law against bank robbery.

So it was no surprise that when Giuliani was courting the Christian right at the recent Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., he said, "No set of decisions the next president makes will be more important than the judges that that president appoints." He promised that if elected, he would appoint "justices in the mold of Justice (Antonin) Scalia, Justice (Clarence) Thomas, Justice (Samuel) Alito or Chief Justice (John) Roberts." President Bush also promised in his 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns to nominate justices who would not make social policy from the bench. And when asked which justices he admired most, he named two: Scalia and Thomas.

Comment: The lasting Bush legacy will be Alito & Roberts. What would the legacy be of Hillary or Obama?

Happenings:

1. Kathee and I met her Brother, Dave; and his wife Colleen at The Tea House in Plymouth tonight.
   
2. I am in class all day tomorrow (Microsoft Access 2007). A nice break from work!
   

BAC $ 3 billion CDO write-down

Bank of America to write down $3B in debt

Excerpts:

Bank of America Corp., the nation's second biggest bank, said Tuesday it will take a $3 billion debt-related writedown in the fourth quarter and warned its losses could grow as the market wrestles with the fallout from the housing and mortgage-lending slump.

Speaking at an investor conference in New York, chief financial officer Joe Price added that the bank is also setting aside more money for potential losses but considers the losses "manageable."

Bank of America is the latest of several financial service companies to lower the value of its lending portfolio in the wake of the subprime lending crisis. Last week, crosstown rival Wachovia Corp. marked down the value of its loan-backed securities by about $1.1 billion.

Mortgage-related writedowns across the banking industry were more than $40 billion in the third quarter, and the fourth quarter could end up being worse. Along with Bank of America and Wachovia, Citigroup Inc. has said it will write down as much as $11 billion and Morgan Stanley anticipates a writedown of up to $6 billion in the fourth quarter.

...

The latest writedown at Bank of America involves the value of its collateralized debt obligations, which are complex instruments that combine slices of different kind of risk and are often backed in part by subprime mortgages—loans given to customers with poor credit history—as well as other loans.

Comment: More Subprime bite! So far: C, BAC, JPM, WB!

MinnPost.com launches

Online MinnPost Offers Local Coverage

MinnPost, led by a former Minneapolis Star Tribune publisher and editor, Joel Kramer, is aiming at the small audience they believe is thirsting for substantive local journalism. The site's staffers say that kind of work is on the decline, and they blame it on cost-cutting as the industry faces dwindling circulation and ad revenue.

"The important thing that's happening there is that people are stepping up to create new journalism ventures in a time when traditional news organizations are stepping back" as they trim staff, said Dan Gillmor, a former technology columnist and founder of the Center for Citizen Media, a venture of the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism and Harvard Law School.

Kramer said there's no exact model for MinnPost. The site's aspirations call to mind Salon, an online general-interest magazine started by newspaper journalists who had left the San Francisco Examiner in 1995. But Salon, after a bright start, has steadily pruned back its ambitions after a series of financial setbacks and now features less work by its own staff.

Newspapers have struggled mightily to adapt to new technology, and offering readers more words on serious subjects might not seem like a winning formula. But Kramer thinks there's enough of an audience among people who believe that serious journalism is a civic good and an end in itself.

MinnPost's creators say they are not trying to replace traditional newspapers but to cultivate about 15 to 20 percent of the population: "news intense" readers who seek multiple sources of news every day and are willing to make yearly donations to the site, as people do for public radio.

http://www.minnpost.com/

Comment: Supports RSS feeds. Accepting donations. Needed competition for the Star Tribune.

Julie Andrews turned 69

Contributed by Jon Tuttle.



It wouldn't be funny if it wasn't so true... Julie Andrews turned 69.

To commemorate her 69th birthday on October 1, actress/vocalist, Julie Andrews made a special appearance at Manhattan's Radio City Music Hall for the benefit of the AARP. One of the musical numbers she performed was 'My Favorite Things' from the legendary movie 'Sound Of Music.'

Here are the actual lyrics she used:

Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Cadillac's and cataracts, and hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth and glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the pipes leak,
When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad, I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad.

Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Back pains, confused brains, and no need for sinnin',
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin',
And we won't mention our short, shrunken frames,
When we remember our favorite things.

When the joints ache,
When the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had,
And then I don't feel so bad.

(Ms. Andrews received a standing ovation from the crowd that lasted over four minutes and repeated encores.)

From Sioux City to the Soviet Union

A Spy’s Path: Iowa to A-Bomb to Kremlin Honor

National
A Spy’s Path: Iowa to A-Bomb to Kremlin Honor
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: November 12, 2007
George Koval, who infiltrated the Manhattan Project, was one of the most important spies of the 20th century.

Excerpts:

George Koval also had a secret. During World War II, he was a top Soviet spy, code named Delmar and trained by Stalin’s ruthless bureau of military intelligence.

Atomic spies are old stuff. But historians say Dr. Koval, who died in his 90s last year in Moscow and whose name is just coming to light publicly, was probably one of the most important spies of the 20th century.

On Nov. 2, the Kremlin startled Western scholars by announcing that President Vladimir V. Putin had posthumously given the highest Russian award to a Soviet agent who penetrated the Manhattan Project to build the atom bomb.

The announcement hailed Dr. Koval as “the only Soviet intelligence officer” to infiltrate the project’s secret plants, saying his work “helped speed up considerably the time it took for the Soviet Union to develop an atomic bomb of its own.”

------------

In Russia, Dr. Koval returned to the Mendeleev Institute, earning his doctorate and teaching there for many years, Rossiiskaia Gazeta said. It added that he was a soccer fanatic even in old age and that people at the stadium who knew of his secret past would quietly point him out.

Dr. Koval’s spy role began to emerge publicly in Russia in 2002 with the publication of “The G.R.U. and the Atomic Bomb,” a book that referred to Dr. Koval only by his code name. The book offered few biographical details but said he was one of the very few spies who managed to elude “the net of the counterintelligence agencies.”

Dr. Koval died on Jan. 31, 2006, according to Russian accounts. The cause was not made public. By American reckoning, he would have been 92, though the Kremlin’s statement put his age at 94 and some Russian news reports put it at 93.

Posthumously, Dr. Koval was made a Hero of the Russian Federation, the highest honorary title that can be bestowed on a Russian citizen. The Kremlin statement cited “his courage and heroism while carrying out special missions.”

Dr. Kramish surmised that he was “the biggest” of the atomic spies. “You don’t get a medal from the president of Russia for nothing,” he said.


Wikipedia: George Koval

Official Russian press release

Comment: The Official Russian press release is interesting! NYTimes article has pictures of the official awards event.

Wow! Subprime Losses May Reach $400 Billion

Subprime Losses May Reach $400 Billion, Analysts Say

Excerpt:

Citigroup Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and Morgan Stanley led more than $40 billion of writedowns of assets as record U.S. foreclosures plundered asset prices. About $1.2 trillion of the $10 trillion of outstanding U.S. home loans are considered to be subprime, Mayo said in the note.

``We're not out of the woods yet,'' said Mondher Bettaieb- Loriot, who helps manage the equivalent of about $58 billion at Swisscanto Asset Management in Zurich. ``There are more losses to be taken and there's more negative news to come. At some point it will be a buying opportunity but we're not there yet.''

Deutsche Bank expects 30 percent to 40 percent of subprime debt to default. Losses on loans to people with poor credit histories may be as much as half the sum lent, Mayo wrote. The forecasts on total writedowns are based on ``seat-of-the-pants'' estimates using losses announced by the biggest securities firms, he said.

Comment: This is from Bloomberg.com ... not a business site given to exaggeration!

Understanding I John 2:2

Understanding I John 2:2

Comment: a good read!

Rachel's 23rd birthday

Will the Supremes take D.C. 2nd Amendment case?

Justices to decide whether to take up case on strict limits approved in D.C.

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will discuss gun control today in a private conference that soon could explode publicly.

Behind closed doors, the nine justices will consider taking a case that challenges the District of Columbia's stringent handgun ban. Their ultimate decision will shape how far other cities and states can go with their own gun restrictions.

"If the court decides to take this up, it's very likely it will end up being the most important Second Amendment case in history," said Dennis Henigan, the legal director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Henigan predicted "it's more likely than not" that the necessary four justices will vote to consider the case. The court will announce its decision Tuesday, and oral arguments could be heard next year.

Lawyers are swarming.

Texas, Florida and 11 other states weighed in on behalf of gun owners who are challenging D.C.'s strict gun laws. New York and three other states want the gun restrictions upheld. Pediatricians filed a brief supporting the ban. A Northern California gun dealer, Russell Nordyke, filed a brief opposing it.

Comment: Sounds like they will decide this week whether to consider the case. I hope they do. Important links below:

Wikipedia: Parker v. District of Columbia

Both Sides Fear Firing Blanks if D.C. Gun Case Reaches High Court

A note on District of Columbia v. Heller

A Shot at the Second Amendment

A different kind of "good news"

I Thessalonians 3:6, "But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us, as we also to see you"

Pastor Levy's message touched on this verse this morning and I found this interesting.

The Greek (Hyper-linked to the Blue Letter Bible):

"αρτι δε ελθοντος τιμοθεου προς ημας αφ υμων και ευαγγελισαμενου ημιν την πιστιν και την αγαπην υμων και οτι εχετε μνειαν ημων αγαθην παντοτε επιποθουντες ημας ιδειν καθαπερ και ημεις υμας"

Meaning: " to bring good news, to announce glad tidings"

1. of the joyful tidings of God's kindness, in particular, of the Messianic blessings
   
2. in the NT used especially of the glad tidings of the coming kingdom of God, and of the salvation to be obtained in it through Christ, and of what relates to this salvation
   
3. glad tidings are brought to one, one has glad tidings proclaimed to him
   
4. to proclaim glad tidings: instruct (men) concerning the things that pertain to Christian salvation
   

Here is the common usage of "to preach good news" in the NT: Romans 1:15, "So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also."

The good news of 1 Thessalonians 3:6, is the good news that one has received the gospel. A "good news" of a different sort!

Gmail now supports IMAP

Tip of the Week: Viewing Gmail From Anywhere

By J. D. BIERSDORFER
Published: November 8, 2007

If you’re a Gmail user, you can now set up your account to use Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) with your favorite e-mail program. Unlike the older POP mail system, which typically confines message downloads to the computer or the device you are working on, IMAP is server-based so your mailbox has all the current messages no matter where you use it — on a computer, Web browser or mobile device. Using IMAP with Gmail is free, and instructions on setting it up with different mail programs are at http://preview.tinyurl.com/yofbl9.

What is IMAP? Wikipedia: Internet Message Access Protocol. Earlier CFG post on IMAP. Notice the NYTimes use of TinyURL!

Another do-nothing year for congress!

A Failure to Lead: The Democratic Congress is more interested in acting out than in taking positive action

Excerpt:

This week is the one-year anniversary of Democrats winning Congress. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid probably aren't in a celebrating mood. The goodwill they enjoyed after their victory is gone. Their bright campaign promises are unfulfilled. Democratic leadership is in disarray. And Congress's approval rating has fallen to its lowest point in history.

The problems the Democrats are now experiencing begin with the federal budget. Or rather, the lack of one. In 2006, Democrats criticized Congress for dragging its feet on the budget and pledged that they would do better. Instead, they did worse. The new fiscal year started Oct. 1--five weeks ago--but Democrats have yet to send the president a single annual appropriations bill. It's been at least 20 years since Congress has gone this late in passing any appropriation bills, an indication of the mess the Pelosi-Reid Congress is now in.

Even worse, the Democrats have made clear all their talk about "fiscal discipline" is just that--talk. They're proposing to spend $205 billion more than the president has proposed over the next five years. And the opening wedge of this binge is $22 billion more in spending proposed for the coming year. Only in Washington could someone in public life be so clueless to say, as Sen. Reid and Rep. Pelosi have, that $22 billion is a "relatively small" difference.

Comment: To be fair ... the Republicans didn't seem to accomplish much the previous 2 years! (But at least they got a budget to the President!)

Fred touches the "third rail"

Comment: Fred Thompson addresses what no other politician running for President has addressed! This takes courage! Social Security is often called "the third rail" of politics. The issue is so sensitive that few dare address the looming problems. I commend Senator Thompson for laying out a plan!

Here is the complete reference guide to the Thompson Social Security Plan

Rockford church treasurer indicted

Former church employee indicted for embezzlement, child pornography

Excerpt:

The U.S. Attorney's Office says Beise worked as church council treasurer at Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church from 1998 to 2006.

The indictment alleges that Beise embezzled the more than $240,000 from the church by depositing church funds into his personal bank account and writing checks from the church account to pay personal expenses.

It also says investigators believe he used the money to help fund the construction of his $600,000 home, pay credit card bills, and buy jewelry and season tickets to sporting events.

Comments: Simple controls would have prevented the embezzlement. Notice this phrase: "... by depositing church funds into his personal bank account and writing checks from the church account". Controls needed (most churches have them by way of common sense!):

1. Separate the depositing and the check writing functions (and persons). The one who deposits and reports the deposits must be distinct from the one who pays the bills by writing the checks!
   
2. In most churches the "Financial Secretary" handles the counting and depositing function while the "Treasurer" handles the bill paying function.
   
3. Other basic controls:
   
   
   
   1. All monies must be prompted counted and deposited. At least 2 non-related people should be involved in the counting and recording. A rotation of counters should be in place to somewhat randomize the makeup of the counting teams.
      
   2. The deposit should be made by at least the Tuesday after the Sunday collections.
      
   3. The deposit amounts should be promptly reported to the treasurer (with the board members copied)
      
   4. The treasurer should not be able to handle any cash. He writes the checks and balances the checkbook. Prompt reporting (monthly in a small church, more frequently in large ministries) should be provided all officers.
      
   5. A ledger of all checks written should be provided to all officers.
      
   
   

The above process should be documented and audited. These simple steps would have prevented this embezzlement. Churches and other non-profits often have lose controls and are susceptible to financial mismanagement and fraud.

Seen on Sharper Iron

Seen on Sharper Iron

Sin Will: Take you further than you wanted to go,
Keep you longer than you wanted to stay,
Cost you more than you wanted to pay

The weak dollar - stockmarket connection

Sinking dollar, rising portfolio

The dollar has had declines of 25 percent or more twice in the recent past; the current fall is 36 percent since 2002 against a basket of foreign currencies. In the early 1970s, the peculiar combination of rising inflation and low demand known as stagflation was weighing the buck down. In the mid-'80s, the dollar fell amid fears the U.S. was about to be overtaken by Japan Inc. as the world's economic superpower.

This time around, the reasons for the decline are more subtle. The U.S. economy has been expanding, but that growth has not been spread evenly; now the meltdown in the housing market poses a recession threat.

Moreover, we're running a large federal deficit and a trade gap of nearly $60 billion a month. All of that puts downward pressure on the dollar.

So far that pressure has been beneficial: It's made U.S. goods sold overseas more affordable, helping to cut the trade deficit. And it is boosting the bottom lines of U.S. exporters because their foreign sales are in currencies that are appreciating.

"This is a healthy, corrective development for our economy," says Eaton Vance chief economist Robert MacIntosh. Certainly the stock market seems comfortable with the trend. The S&P 500 has risen 35 percent in the five-plus years that the dollar has been on the decline.

Comment: Nice graphic associated with the article.

Blue on my chest

Blue has this thing that just started last week, where he has to get on my chest (between the laptop and my neck).

Today's happenings:

1. Coffee with a friend from church at 10
   
2. Lunch with Nathan at Chipotle's in Maple Grove
   
3. Brother and son by for dinner (Kathee made Cincinnati chili)
   
4. We watched the end of the Ohio State - Illinois game (upset!)
   
5. Brother beat me at pool (again!)
   

Tomorrow: Worship at 4th Baptist and we celebrate Rachel's 23rd birthday in the afternoon.

25th Anniversary: Thanksgiving Day Fire

Thanksgiving Day Fire, 1982

Excerpt:

The 25th anniversary of the Thanksgiving Day fire that destroyed Northwestern National Bank (now Wells Fargo) in downtown Minneapolis is fast approaching. The fire was, at the time, the largest office fire in US history and caused an estimated $100 million in damages. The flames burned for four days and demanded the efforts of 180 firefighters. Amazingly, the first five floors of the bank building were untouched by fire. Charles Lindberg’s first plane, a "Jenny" on display in the lobby was unscathed (Lucky Lindy lives on), as were the safe deposit boxes and vault.

A new emergency plan — quickly put into place along with computer backup files stored four blocks away (new technology in those days) — allowed the bank to continue business the next day. By the following Monday, 1,500 team members were working from new office spaces throughout town.

Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day Fire

Comment: A BCP plan was in place! Primitive by today's standards, I'm sure! We have coworkers who remember the fire!

The real Da Vinci code?

Comment: Image from www.vertigolibri.it

Babelfish translator (select this link ... add the Italian web page ... translate)

Italian musician uncovers hidden music in Da Vinci's 'Last Supper'

Excerpt:

An Italian musician and computer technician claims to have uncovered musical notes encoded in Leonardo Da Vinci's "Last Supper," raising the possibility that the Renaissance genius might have left behind a somber composition to accompany the scene depicted in the 15th-century wall painting.

"It sounds like a requiem," Giovanni Maria Pala said. "It's like a soundtrack that emphasizes the passion of Jesus."

Painted from 1494 to 1498 in Milan's Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the "Last Supper" captures a key moment in the Gospel narration of Jesus' last meal with the 12 Apostles before his arrest and crucifixion, vividly depicting the shock of Christ's followers as they learn that one of them is about to betray him.

Pala, a 45-year-old musician who lives near the southern Italian city of Lecce, began studying Leonardo's painting in 2003, after hearing on a news program that researchers believed the artist and inventor had hidden a musical composition in the work.


CNN: Italian musician uncovers hidden music in Da Vinci's 'Last Supper'

www.lamusicacelata.it

Comment: Regarding the Italian websites: looks like there is a book and a CD ("Libro con CD allegato") (I think "CD" in Italian = "CD" in English!)

Wachovia's CDO's

Wachovia Credit-Losses Reach $1.7 Billion in October

Comment: I am learning something new every year - or in the case of CDO's (collateralized debt obligations) every quarter. Until just recently, I had never heard of the term.

Excerpt:

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Wachovia Corp., the second-largest regional bank, said mortgage-related losses total $1.7 billion so far this quarter, more than the lender reported for the previous three months.

Wachovia declined in New York trading after the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank set aside as much as $600 million for bad loans in the fourth quarter and said in a regulatory filing that securities linked to subprime mortgages lost $1.1 billion last month. The company's $1.3 billion of writedowns in the third quarter prompted its first earnings decline in six years.

The world's biggest banks have written down more than $40 billion after late payments on U.S. home-loans rose to a five- year high and foreclosures set a record. Morgan Stanley, the second-largest U.S. securities firm, reported Nov. 7 that its subprime mortgage-related assets lost $3.7 billion in the previous two months, and said its outlook for credit markets was bleaker than in September.

``Any financial institution holding any of this paper doesn't really have a good grasp on what the true value is,'' said Michael Nix, who helps manage $800 million at Greenwood Capital Associates, in Greenwood, South Carolina, including 116,864 Wachovia shares. ``We'll see continued writedowns that come out of the fourth quarter.''

Comments: For all CDO posts click here. It is of great interest to me to see how Wells Fargo sorts out with their CDO's!

More (updated):

Wachovia Chief on the Hot Seat

Excerpt:

... chief executive Ken Thompson may be the next CEO brought down by Wall Street's mortgage binge.

So says analyst Dick Bove of Punk Ziegel & Co. Bove, who rates the stock market perform, says Thompson was among the most aggressive executives in pushing his bank to take on more risk as it delved deeper into the world of nontraditional mortgages.

Wachovia didn't comment, but Bove's remarks come on the heels of a regulatory filing in which the Charlotte, N.C., bank said it plans to take a $1.1 billion writedown on collateralized debt obligations that are backed by subprime residential mortgage-backed securities.

Falling dollar good for exports

Falling Dollar Spurs Foreigners to Buy American, Pushing Exports to Record Level

Excerpt:

The improvement came from a 1.1 percent jump in U.S. exports, which climbed to a record $140.1 billion. The dollars' decline against many major currencies has made U.S. goods cheaper and more competitive in foreign markets. For September, sales of American-made cars, computers and farm products including corn, cotton, wheat and soybeans were all up.

Imports also rose in September, climbing by 0.6 percent to $196.6 billion, the second highest level on record. Imports of foreign-made cars, televisions and clothing were all up. Oil imports, however, fell by 0.8 percent to $10.5 billion, an improvement that is likely to be temporary given the recent surge in oil prices to close to $100 per barrel.

The deficit with China rose 5.5 percent to $23.8 billion, second only to a $24.4 billion deficit in October 2006. Imports surged to the second highest level on record, pushed up by big gains in imports of Chinese-made televisions, cell phones, computers and toys as retailers stocked their shelves for Christmas.

Those gains were occurring despite a string of high-profile recalls of Chinese products this year -- everything from toys with lead paint to defective tires and chemical-tainted toothpaste and pet food ingredients.

Through September, the trade deficit is running at an annual rate of $703.4 billion, down by 7.4 percent from last year's $758.5 billion. Analysts believe that surging exports from a weaker dollar will lead to a narrowing of the deficit for the full year, breaking a string of five consecutive records.

Critics of President Bush's trade policies say that even with the narrowing of the deficit this year, the imbalances are still running at unsustainable levels, forcing the United States to depend more and more on foreigners' willingness to hold dollars to finance the imbalances.

While a falling dollar is good for exports, it raises worries that at some point foreigners will be less willing to purchase dollar-denominated investments such as U.S. stocks and bonds. Such a change in sentiment could send stock prices plunging and push up U.S. interest rates.

Comment: The economic silver behind the gray cloud!