Obituary: David E. Layhew Sr.

DAVID E. LAYHEW SR. East Troy, WI/Lake County, IN Age 61 went to be with the Lord Saturday, December 15, 2007. He was born on February 23, 1946 in Pennsylvania to Clyde and Lois (Zembauer) Layhew. He graduated high school in Hobart, Indiana and went on to attend Moody Bible Institute, and Baptist Bible College and Seminary. He was an ordained Minister. He married Elizabeth Reynolds in Hobart, Indiana and they were married for 27 years. He then married Jennifer Nitsche in Apache Junction, Arizona, and they were married until the time of his death. He was a member of the Geneva Lakes Christian Church, and also a member of the NRA. He was a longtime resident of the area. His greatest joy was sharing the Lord with others and being a father, grandfather, and husband. He is survived by his wife, Jennifer; his children: David (Diane) Layhew, Denise (James) Vietti, Samuel Welander and Mary Welander; 10 grandchildren; and a brother, Louis (Donna) Layhew; nieces, nephews, other relatives and many friends. A funeral service was held at the East Troy Bible Church. In lieu of flowers, memorials to the family are greatly appreciated. Legacy Funeral Services. 2974 Main St., East Troy, WI. 262-642-5057

Published in the Post-Tribune on 12/18/2007.

Comment: I will miss him! He did not let his wheelchair stop him from serving the Lord. Dave had (spinal cord injured folk know about this) the dreaded spinal cord cyst in 1988. He had surgery at Swedish Hospital and recovered at Craig Hospital (Denver). His wife Liz stayed at our home for several weeks (I think perhaps 3 or 4). Swedish and Craig were the paths of my own surgery and rehabilitation!

2007 has been a year where four I have known well have passed: Obituaries

Update: screen image from here on 11/10/19. Images from Denise

Reasonable mortgage rules

When Mortgages Made Sense: Should we go back to using the old-fashioned rules for lending?

Excerpts:

Before the 1930s, many home loans lasted only five years, with borrowers required to make a large "balloon" payment at the end of the term. Homeowners with these loans faced big trouble during the Great Depression, so lending practices changed. Longer-term mortgages (usually 20, 25 or 30 years) became standard, and balloon payments became the exception rather than the norm.

...

During the 1950s and 1960s, Greenstein put borrowers almost exclusively into these FHA and VA loans. They carried a fixed-rate of interest—usually 4 or 4.5 percent. Every borrower underwent a thorough credit check (a laborious process in the days before computers and lightning-fast online approvals). Like all lenders, Greenstein relied on strict ratios to determine how much money someone could afford to borrow. A person's mortgage payment (including taxes and property insurance) couldn't exceed 28 percent of his monthly income. When you added together the family's car loan and the mortgage payment, the total should be below 36 percent of income. "It wasn't set in stone at 28/36; you could make judgment calls," he says, but most borrowers were held to those limits. What about credit card payments? That was rarely an issue, since credit cards didn't start catching on until the late 1950s.

Wikipedia: Debt-to-income ratio

Comment: The crazy increases in home prices are a result of cheap credit and loose lending standards! The housing market is reaping what the mortgage industry sowed!

Fed endorses rules to curb shady lending

Summary:

The Fed, which has regulatory powers over the nation’s banking system, is proposing:

1. Restricting lenders from penalizing certain subprime borrowers — those with tarnished credit or low incomes — who pay off their loans early. The restriction would apply to loans that meet certain conditions, including that the penalty expire at least 60 days before any possible payment increase.
   
2. Forcing lenders to make sure that subprime borrowers set aside money to pay for taxes and insurance.
   
3. Barring lenders from making loans when they don’t have proof of a borrower’s income.
   
4. Prohibiting lenders from engaging in a pattern or practice of lending without considering a borrower’s ability to repay a home loan from sources other than the home’s value.
   

...
When the housing market went bust, subprime loans were most heavily affected.

Of the nearly 3 million subprime adjustable-rate loans surveyed by the Mortgage Bankers Association from July through September, a record 4.72 percent entered the foreclosure process during those months. At the same time, a record 18.81 percent of the subprime adjustable-rate loans were past due.

When home values weakened, borrowers were left with loan balances that eclipsed the value of their homes. They also were clobbered when their loans reset with much higher interest rates.

The Great White Fleet centennial

Why TR Claimed the Seas: The importance of a strong Navy.

Excerpt:

On Dec. 16, 1907, the 16 battleships of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet sailed from Hampton Roads, Va., on a 43,000-mile journey around the world. The occasion was immediately understood as Teddy Roosevelt's way of declaring that the United States, already an economic superpower, was also a military one. Unnoticed by most Americans, this past Sunday marked its centennial.

There is an enduring, bipartisan strain in American politics (think Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich) that wishes to forgo the military role. As wonderfully recounted by Jim Rasenberger in "America 1908," the voyage of the Great White Fleet, as it was popularly known, was energetically opposed by members of Congress, who sought to cut off its funding when it was halfway around the world. Sound familiar? Mark Twain considered the venture as further evidence that TR was "clearly insane . . . and insanest upon war and its supreme glories."

In fact, Roosevelt had sound strategic reasons for putting the fleet to sea. A year earlier, the British had commissioned their revolutionary Dreadnought battleship, setting off an arms race with Germany that helped set Europe on a course to World War I. Labor riots against Japanese immigrants in California had strained relations with Japan, whose dramatic naval victory over Russia at the battle of Tsushima had made the rest of the world keenly aware of this rising Asian power.

"Nearly every day fresh bulletins of sinister Japanese maneuvers appeared in the European and American press," writes Mr. Rasenberger, including rumors of thousands of Japanese troops disguised as Mexican peasants, "preparing to attack America." Roosevelt himself later explained that he had "become uncomfortably conscious of a very, very slight undertone of veiled truculence" from the Japanese. "It was time for a show down."



Comment: Wikipedia: The Great White Fleet . Official site: The Great White Fleet. DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY: The Cruise of the Great White Fleet

Is McCain on the rebound?

McCain's Surge - Why he's making a primary comeback

Excerpts:

Endorsing John McCain for President yesterday, Joseph Lieberman stressed that his Senate colleague would always elevate his country above his party. Coming from a man who was excommunicated by Democrats for his views on Iraq, this was a fitting sentiment--and it may also explain why Mr. McCain seems to be staging something of a primary resurgence.

...

Our guess is that this national security record is the main reason for his own political surge. With the success of General David Petraeus's counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq, even some conservatives have taken to arguing that foreign and military policy will become less important in 2008. We doubt it. This is still a post-9/11 country, and voters know they will be electing a Commander in Chief in a world that is as dangerous as it was during the height of the Cold War. In an election against any Democrat next year, Mr. McCain would have little trouble winning the security debate.

Comment: The Opinion Journal is more confident than I that McCain is surging. But I still like him for his straight talk!

What Illinois town is WEST of the Mississippi?

Kaskaskia, Illinois


View Larger Map


Comment: Don Steinhart from our church was by tonight. Don is our Deacon and he and Amy visited us. Don had this interesting geography / geology tidbit: In 1881, the Mississippi shifted to a new channel, running to the east of the town instead of to the west as before; the state boundary line, however, remained in its original location. Kaskaskia is therefore one of the few portions of Illinois west of the Mississippi.

Dave Layhew -- Home with the Lord

Saturday, 12/15/07, mid-morning, God chose to take Dave Layhew home to heaven. He was on his way from Wisconsin to Chicago to pick up his stepson from the Naval Base for a one day pass. He had stopped at a MacDonald's for a bite of breakfast, and apparently had a heart attack in the van. When he didn't show up at the Naval Base, Sam phoned his Mom and everyone began praying that Dave wasn't stuck in snow. A friend of young David's offered to drive the way Dave would have traveled, and discovered the van. Police were phoned; they broke into the van and found that Dave was already gone to Glory.

Comment: Dave and I were assistant Pastors at Haddon Heights Baptist Church (New Jersey) in the early '80s. He was the assistant Pastor at Bible Baptist Church of Plum Boro, PA when Kathee and I lived in Pittsburgh (late '70s). Dave broke his back while a student at Baptist Bible College and was in a wheel chair for approximately 40 years. I lost touch with Dave for about 10 years but last Summer was able to contact him (after Googling his name and finding his son's address). The above note is from his ex-wife, Liz.

Breaking through "reflexive partisanship"

Lieberman: McCain can reunite our country

Excerpt:

"Being a Republican is important. Being a Democrat is important. But you know what's more important than that? The interest and well-being of the United States of America," the Democrat-turned Independent said in announcing his decision Monday morning in New Hampshire.

"Let's put the United States first again, and John McCain is the man as president who will help us do that," he said.

Lieberman, the Democrats' vice presidential nominee in 2000, said the next president needs to "break through the reflexive partisanship that is poisoning our politics today and stopping us from getting anything done in Washington."

In accepting Lieberman's backing, McCain said, "It is one of the great honors of my political career to have known him, to have worked with him and to have received his endorsement."

The Connecticut senator decided to endorse McCain because he considers him "the most capable to be commander in chief on day one of his administration, and the most capable of uniting the country so that we can prevail against Islamic extremism," a Lieberman aide said earlier.

Comment: McCain needs to win New Hampshire & South Carolina!

The two mavericks

Lieberman to Endorse McCain

Excerpt:

Sen. John McCain, trying to build momentum toward a reprise of his 2000 New Hampshire primary victory, is piling up high-profile endorsements, including one from another political maverick, Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

The Connecticut senator, an independent who was the Democrats' 2000 vice presidential nominee, was scheduled to announce his support for McCain at a town hall meeting Monday morning in Hillsborough.

A Lieberman adviser said the senator decided to back McCain despite being a Republican because he believes his colleague from Arizona "has the best chance of uniting the country in its fight against Islamic terrorism."

Comment: Maverick: an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party. Cold Fusion Guy is a Joe Lieberman fan: Previous CFG Lieberman posts! From August 2006: "I regard Joe Lieberman is one of the finest, genuine, effective Senators of our time."

Cutting off Microsoft's air supply

Microsoft and Google Duke It Out For the Future

Excerpt:

Google President Eric Schmidt thinks that 90 percent of computing will eventually reside in the Web-based 'cloud.' Microsoft faces a business quandary as it tries to link the Web to its existing desktop business — 'software plus Internet services,' in its formulation. 'Microsoft will embrace the Web while striving to maintain the revenue and profits from its desktop software businesses, the corporate gold mine, a smart strategy for now that may not be sustainable,' according to the article. Google faces competition from Microsoft and from other Web-based productivity software being offered by startups, and it is 'unclear at this point whether Google will be able to capitalize on the trends that it's accelerating.' David B. Yoffie, a professor at the Harvard Business School, says the Google model is to try to change all the rules. If Google succeeds, 'a lot of the value that Microsoft provides today is potentially obsolete.' Microsoft used to call this 'cutting off their air supply."

Comment: I've heard but cannot confirm that Intuit will soon offer an Internet based personal financial manager - think Quicken on the Internet. For light computing, Google apps provides a Word-type application and an Internet-only spreadsheet. All this is "the cloud" of computing's future.

The full NYTimes article:

Google Gets Ready to Rumble With Microsoft


Excerpt:

Still, Google Apps aren’t anything other than a natural step in Google’s march to deliver more computing capability to users over the Internet, Mr. Schmidt says.

“For most people,” he says, “computers are complex and unreliable,” given to crashing and afflicted with viruses. If Google can deliver computing services over the Web, then “it will be a real improvement in people’s lives,” he says.

To explain, Mr. Schmidt steps up to a white board. He draws a rectangle and rattles off a list of things that can be done in the Web-based cloud, and he notes that this list is expanding as Internet connection speeds become faster and Internet software improves. In a sliver of the rectangle, about 10 percent, he marks off what can’t be done in the cloud, like high-end graphics processing. So, in Google’s thinking, will 90 percent of computing eventually reside in the cloud?

“In our view, yes,” Mr. Schmidt says. “It’s a 90-10 thing.” Inside the cloud resides “almost everything you do in a company, almost everything a knowledge worker does.”

2nd Amendment: the long-simmering comma war

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Clause and Effect

Excerpt:

The circuit court’s opinion is only the latest volley in a long-simmering comma war. In a 2001 Fifth Circuit case, a group of anti-gun academics submitted an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief arguing that the “unusual” commas of the Second Amendment support the collective rights interpretation. According to these amici, the founders’ use of commas reveals that what they really meant to say was “a well-regulated militia ... shall not be infringed.”

Now that the issue is heading to the Supreme Court, the pro-gun American Civil Rights Union is firing back with its own punctuation-packing brief. Nelson Lund, a professor of law at George Mason University, argues that everything before the second comma is an “absolute phrase” and, therefore, does not modify anything in the main clause. Professor Lund states that the Second Amendment “has exactly the same meaning that it would have if the preamble had been omitted.”

Refreshing though it is to see punctuation at the center of a national debate, there could scarcely be a worse place to search for the framers’ original intent than their use of commas. In the 18th century, punctuation marks were as common as medicinal leeches and just about as scientific. Commas and other marks evolved from a variety of symbols meant to denote pauses in speaking. For centuries, punctuation was as chaotic as individual speech patterns.

The situation was even worse in the law, where a long English tradition held that punctuation marks were not actually part of statutes (and, therefore, courts could not consider punctuation when interpreting them). Not surprisingly, lawmakers took a devil-may-care approach to punctuation. Often, the whole business of punctuation was left to the discretion of scriveners, who liked to show their chops by inserting as many varied marks as possible.

Another problem with trying to find meaning in the Second Amendment’s commas is that nobody is certain how many commas it is supposed to have. The version that ended up in the National Archives has three, but that may be a fluke. Legal historians note that some states ratified a two-comma version. At least one recent law journal article refers to a four-comma version.

Comment: My hope is that the SCOTUS will uphold the Appeals Court and invalidate D.C.'s gun ban

Learning From Esau

Stuff Out Loud: Learning From Esau

Quote:

For every generation, the challenge is the same—to see that there is more to life than a meal, or a video game, or baseball, or a party, or a movie, or an indulgence of some kind—to see, as Paul put it, that "the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18)

Bluto strikes again

The Delta House Congress - The politics of futile gestures

Excerpts:

In the movie "Animal House," the fraternity brother known as Otter reacts to the Delta House's closure with the classic line, "I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part." To which Bluto, played by John Belushi, replies, "We're just the guys to do it." The movie ends by noting that Bluto becomes a Senator, so perhaps this explains the meltdown among Democrats on Capitol Hill.

As they careen toward the end of their first year in charge, Congressional leaders seem capable of nothing but futile gestures.

....
Considering most of their policy goals, this failure is good for the country. But the dysfunction amply shows that Democrats are attempting to govern with an agenda that is too far left even for many in their own party, never mind the country.

Comment: To be fair, the Republican congress of the previous session didn't do much either!

Answers needed:

1. Fiscal reform
   
2. Fix the AMT
   
3. Social security reform
   
4. An immigration policy that works and is not amnesty
   

At the rate the Federal government spends money and with the growing entitlements, this country could be bankrupt in less than a generation.

Tiff taught me that

Slain Colo. missionary mourned in Minn

Excerpts:

"She always told me, 'Dad, you think you can control things, but you can't. The Lord controls things,'" her father, Tom Johnson, told mourners. "I'd like to ask all of you to—instead of saying 'I love you' on the telephone to your children—to look them in the eye and say 'I love you'—because Tiff taught me that."


Johnson was born in nearby Hibbing and graduated from Hibbing High School and Normandale Community College in Bloomington, near Minneapolis.


One of Johnson's goals had been to help needy children in developing countries. John Mark, a missionary leader at Cedar Valley Church in Bloomington, called her a "beautiful and extraordinary lady."


"She was the type of person who would do anything you asked her to do," Mark said. "If you don't have love for Tiffany, something is wrong with your heart."


The Rev. Dave Oler of First Assembly of God Church in Hibbing officiated at the funeral.


"Jesus took Tiffany's life and blessed it and transformed it, and spread it out to the entire world," said Oler. "This world needs more Tiffany Johnsons—more people that would let God love them."


Comment: My thoughts and prayers are with the families touched by the church shootings in Colorado. Not mentioned in this article: The Work family lost 2 young daughters in the Colorado Springs' killings.

More from the Star Tribune: Praise for Chisholm woman killed by gunman in Colorado

Grandmother, Betty Holmquist of Little Canada, said Johnson gave her life to Jesus at an evangelistic event at the Target Center. “It was powerful,” she said. “They weren’t cheering for the Timberwolves, they were cheering for Jesus. We were sitting in the balcony, and when they were done speaking, we asked her if she wanted to go down to the floor. She said, 'I’ll go with you if you go with me.’ ”

Dying, Courage, Love

I thought I would briefly share some thoughts about my Brother-in-Law, Tom Gilbert.

Tom was diagnosed with stage IV Melanoma 4th of July week. The prognosis then was not good, and his chance of survival was less than 10%. He lived 5 months.

Immediately after diagnosis, Tom and Nancy re-worked their wills - bringing them current. Tom turned all of the finances over to Nancy and brought her up to speed on all of the details. Tom also bought a new car for Nancy. (They had 2 14 year old Camrays ... each with over 120K miles). Gradually as Tom's health deteriorated, Nancy provided more and more of Tom's care. As the cancer went to Tom's brain, he became less and less rational and less able to care for himself. Nancy took a leave of absence from work to care for Tom in their home.

Tom was a lovely person who was a tremendous Grandfather. The above pictures were taken on Thanksgiving. Dear little Jessica loved to snuggle with Tom even on his sick bed.

I've known personally three men who faced cancer and died quickly: Rogers Greenman, Warren Gilder, and Tom. All were courageous in the last months of their lives.

Nancy provided excellent care of her husband. The last three weeks of his life, he had hospice care in the home. This involved LPN's, visiting nursers, visiting physicians and my Sister. Nancy faithfully bathed, cleaned, and attended Tom to the minute of his death.

Nancy made the funeral arrangements for Tom. She selected an alternative funeral that was cremation and a memorial service. The hour Tom died (last Saturday) she and the children gathered by Tom's body after his death and mourned for a time. Her Pastor came and spent time with the family.

The memorial service was Wednesday. Nancy had a lot of help. She had between 60 and 80 people at her home. Her manager, church friends, and neighbors all provided food. We had food Tuesday night (when the family gathered), Wednesday after the memorial services, Wednesday night, Thursday night and Friday night. For example, Mother's neighbor Donna brought in a pecan pie. Another church brought in a ham dinner. A neighbor brought in lasagna from the Olive Garden. All of this was very helpful.

Cremation is not my preference, but I think it is just that - a preference! The memorial service and all of the funeral was handled with great dignity.

Because Rogers Greenman, Warren Gilder, and Tom Gilbert were my contemporaries, their deaths strike close to home. At 58, I am cognizant that my days are literally numbered. The Psalmist instructs us: "So teach us to number our days,That we may gain a heart of wisdom" (90:2). James teaches us: "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." (4:14).

In light of the temporariness of life and the absolute certainty of one's death, it is imperative that one embrace the Savior. John 3:36: "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

The events of the last 5 months and the last 5 days specifically have been instructive to me.

Ecclesiastes 7:4: "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth"

Home from Dallas

Kathee and I arrived home at 3 today. Uneventful travel. We left Mom's at 7:15 a.m. and were at the airport and checked in by 8:15. We had breakfast at the airport. I read several chapters of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. The author (Jack Weatherford) is a professor at Macalester College.

We had good customer service from Hertz. The check in guy, drove us to the terminal (skipping the bus!). Less walking and very helpful.

As we spent time with family yesterday, Friday was less mournful: My Sister took Kathee out to Coldwater Creek to do some clothes shopping for Kathee for Christmas. My Brother and went out to Frys, the giant electronics store in Arlington. In the afternoon, Mother, Kathee, Roger and I went out to see the movie Enchanted.

Tonight, Roger is making dinner for us. We are glad to be home!

Logan's theology lesson

Logan is a 13 year-old boy who lives on a ranch in a very small town in Nebraska. Logan listens to Christian Radio station 89.3FM KSBJ which broadcasts from Houston, TX. Logan called the radio station distraught because he had to take down a calf . His words have wisdom beyond his years.



Doug Wise, Pastor of Airport Road Baptist, Aurora Colorado, sent this to me.

Thought you would like it!

Dan Stahl's new blog: Jade Ramblings

Jade Ramblings

Comment: Jade Ramblings is Dan Stahl's new blog. Dan and his wife Jennifer are members of Parkers Lake Baptist. Dan works for General Mills and works with me on the Metro Womens Center website.

Dan in his first post said: "Probably the only person who will read this is Jim.". I'm sure, Dan, that a lot of folk will read your blog.

Dan, we are praying for you that you get hired on full time at General Mills!

Dallas aquarium

Dallas aquarium

Today Mom, Nancy, Roger, Kathee and I visited the Dallas aquarium which was very interesting. Hertz upgraded me to a GMC Acadia (the first SUV I've ever driven). This has turned out to be handy as we have made multiple runs to the airport and then today we all rode in the Acadia to Dallas.

Rachel and Roger's wife both arrived safely home to Minneapolis.

William Thomas Gilbert III - 1946 - 2007

William Thomas "Tom" Gilbert III, a former regional manager with Monsanto Chemicals, passed away Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007, after a short but courageous battle with cancer.

Memorial service: 10 a.m. Wednesday at First United Methodist Church of Mansfield, 777 N. Walnut Creek, Mansfield.

Born Nov. 26, 1946, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to William and Shirley Steele Gilbert, Tom graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a bachelor's in business administration. After earning his degree, he worked over 20 years for Monsanto Chemical Co., based in St. Louis. His career took the family to Chicago, St. Louis, Laguna Hills and then to Texas. Texas then became "home" 25 years ago.

Tom married Nancy Marie Peet on May 6, 1967, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Tom and Nancy had three wonderful children. Tom loved to golf with his weekly golf group, enjoyed theater, movies and classical music as well as jazz. He retired 10 years ago and was a gourmet cook. He loved having his children and grandchildren around him. He had a soft spot for animals and adored his furry buddies, Pantoufle and Hermione.

Preceding him in death were Bill and Shirley Gilbert, Tate and Leta Steele and Alvah Peet.

Survivors: His wife, Nancy of Arlington; son and daughter-in-law, Tom and Trisha Gilbert of Mansfield; son, Christopher Gilbert of Fort Worth; daughter, Michelle Gilbert of Arlington; sweet granddaughters, Jessica Marie and Carys Cleone; sister, Carole Campbell (Bob); brother, Charlie Gilbert (Kathy); brother-in-law, Jim Peet (Kathee); brother-in-law, Roger Peet (Kathy); "mother," Cleone Hayward Peet; and special niece and nephews, Nathan, Roger and Rachel Peet.

Comment: Kathee and I safely arrived in Dallas.

Nancy's first date with Tom was March 18, 1965. They went out to see "My Fair Lady". Tom was 18 and my Sister was 19. I've know Tom for these past 42 years. He was a super Brother-in-Law and I will deeply miss him!

God raised up a defender!

Image By David Zalubowski, Associated Press

Diatribe foretold horror

Excerpt:

"You christians brought this on yourselves," Murray writes in his 452-word harangue. "I'm coming for EVERYONE soon and I WILL be armed to the @#%$ teeth and I WILL shoot to kill.

Security Guard: 'God Guided Me And Protected Me'

Excerpt:

Assam said she was ending three days of fasting on Sunday when fate put her in the path of the gunman.

"I was praying to God that he direct me" in what to do in life, Assam said. "God made me strong."


Comment: We had a brief discussion at the home front last night about self-defense. I believe that it is Biblical to defend oneself. I see this in Luke 22:36, "Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one". What do you think?

Minneapolis connection (from the Star Tribune today):

Ex-Minneapolis cop hailed as hero in Colorado shootings


The guard -- former Minneapolis police officer Jeanne Assam -- said Monday that she prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide her, and that her hands never shook.

"It seemed like it was me, the gunman and God," she said.

New Life Pastor Brady Boyd called Assam, who is normally his personal security guard, a "hero" whose actions averted further bloodshed.

"There could have been a great loss of life ... and she probably saved over 100 lives," he said.

Assam, a church member, said she took cover as Murray opened fire at New Life, a 14,000-member evangelical megachurch, about 1 p.m. Sunday, while hundreds of worshipers were leaving. She said she leaped up and identified herself, and when Murray did not respond, fired.

Assam, who moved to Colorado in 2000 after being fired from the Minneapolis police department in the late 1990s, said she had been on the third day of a three-day fast, praying to God to provide direction for her life. "I knew I was given the assignment to end this," she said. "I give the credit to God."

Though the shooter had more firepower -- Assam had a handgun, while Murray wielded a high-powered rifle -- God kept her safe, she said.

Before she went to church, Assam read on the Internet about the shootings earlier at the Youth With a Mission Center in the Denver suburb of Arvada. There, two people were killed, including Tiffany Johnson of Chisholm, Minn. Two, including Charles Blanch, 22, of Burnsville, were wounded.

She prayed for the safety of her own church family. Hours later, she confronted Murray.

Preparing for Dallas trip

Both Kathee and I worked late as we wrapped up things at work.

Our managers have been very supportive and we had no issue getting 4 days off. But both of us had hectic days (I think Kathee more so than I).

I called my Sister this morning to check in on her and she is doing well.

Tonight, we stopped by Byerlies in Golden Valley for dinner and were home by 7:30 p.m.

I had ordered a new pair of casual shoes last week and they arrived today - just in time for our trip.

Now relaxing. We hope to leave for the airport at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow.

(I bought our cats 6 catnip-filled knit mice. The package arrived today. Since they were wrapped in plastic, I thought it would be safe to put them under the tree. Blue's sensitive little nose soon found them out and he ripped at the package to try to open it. Kathee had to hide it away until Christmas)

Cool heroism

Vietnam vet among Springs wounded

Excerpts:

A Vietnam veteran is among the survivors, hit by gunfire at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Larry Bourbannais, 59, was eating a hamburger in the cafeteria on the church campus when he heard gunfire, said his daughter, Sherry Smith. Bourbannais headed in the direction of the shots as frightened people ran past him looking to escape to safety. "Where's the shooter, where's the shooter," my dad kept yelling, Smith said.

....

Bourbannais came upon the gunman near an entry way in a building and yelled at him to draw his attention, Smith said. That's when the shooter pointed a handgun at Bourbannais and fired, she said. Bourbannais had ducked behind a hollow, decorative pillar and was hit in the arm by the bullet and fragments of the pillar.

At about that moment, a woman with a drawn handgun turned a corner and walked toward the gunman and yelled "Surrender," Smith said. When the gunman pointed his weapon at the woman, she fired at him and kept walking toward him as she continued firing, Smith said.

"My dad said it was the bravest thing he had ever seen," Smith said.

The woman fired off about 10 to 12 shots as she kept walking toward the shooter.

Comment: The Pastor of New Life Church claims that this heroism "probably saved over 100 lives"!

Updated with more below:

Guard's hands "didn't even shake" as she shot gunman

Excerpts:


The guard who saved untold lives at New Life Church gives credit to God for giving her cover, and boosting her firepower as she shot a heavily-armed gunman.

"I give credit to God. I say that very humbly," said Jeanne Assam. "God was with me, the whole time I was behind cover. Based on the firepower he had, compared to mine."

"It seemed like it was me, the gunman and God," Assam said.
....
"I heard shots fired, there was chaos," she said. "There was a lot of people in the church. People were running away from shots fired.

"I saw him coming through the doors, and I took cover, and I waited for him to get closer...I identified myself, engaged him, and took him down."

She spoke unemotionally, but the first words she said were in tribute to the victims.

"I just want you to know it's an honor to be here and I want to extend my sympathy to the families of the victims and of the gunman. And I mean that very sincerely," she said.

"I just prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide me my hands weren't even shaking."

Comment: The shooter had multiple weapons and 1,000 rounds of ammunition: Details on the shooter

The "Sisyphean challenge"

Sisyphus

Excerpt:

"Sisyphean task" or "Sisyphean challenge": As a punishment from the gods for his trickery, Sisyphus was compelled to roll a huge rock up a steep hill, but before he reached the top of the hill, the rock always escaped him and he had to begin again (Odyssey, xi. 593).

Comment: I told my manager today that my job was a "Sisyphean task". Last year we upgraded all of our workstations to a new release ... and this year we upgraded all of our workstations to the newest release. Now engineering is working on the next upgrade and I know what I will be doing in 2008!

Pronunciation: Sisyphus

Coming Home: "aliya" versus "yerida"

Israel wants citizens abroad back home

Excerpt:

Israel is trying to persuade hundreds of thousands of its citizens living overseas to return home in a project to coincide with the state's 60th anniversary next year, the Immigrant Absorption Ministry said Sunday.

The project, dubbed "Coming Home," will try to lure Israelis living abroad to come back with tax breaks, employment and small business loans.

About 650,000 Israelis live abroad, 450,000 of them in North America, the ministry said. The ministry began contacting them last month with direct phone calls, an Internet site and a "hot line" phone connection.

Comment: "aliya" is the Hebrew word for ascent. Interestingly Psalms 120 to 134 are the Psalms of Ascent - the Psalms that the Hebrew people sang whenever they journeyed up to Jerusalem for any of the feasts or festivals.

Those humorous PC / Mac ads

Apple Mac ads


Comment: I love these ads.

Actors:

John Hodgman = PC

Justin Long = MAC

The Get a Mac campaign

Work connection: I am the release manager for a financial institution and our big LAN has 60,000 workstations. Most are XP and some are Vista. Some of my co-workers either booed or groaned when I told them I bought a Mac!

I have some work related stuff that I do the the Mac could not do. But I sure love the Mac for personal stuff.

The Wikipedia article is very good and has pictures of the Japanese MAC / PC and British MAC /PC.

Is it me? I think PC's suit is deliberately ill-fitting: overly large in the chest and shoulders with sleeves that are too short!

Paulson's gambit

Wells Fargo Can Hack Its Writedowns - Can Citi and JPMorgan?

Comment: There is some foul language in this link!

Excerpts:

On the Paulson agreement:

If the banks agree to Paulson's gambit, bank shareholders and loan investors will take a bath, credit available for housing will disappear, and a least one in three subprime borrowers will eventually default anyway. The editorial yesterday in the New York Times supporting the Paulson proposal is dead wrong: Loan modification does not help struggling subprime borrowers, only the politicians of both parties who prey upon them. Loan modification a la Paulson hurts investors, financial institutions and the US economy.

On Wells Fargo:


WFC ended the third quarter of this year with an ROA of 1.58% and ROE of over 15%, both figures are annualized and both a full standard deviation above peer. Run rate defaults were 80bp (annualized) through September 30, 2007, but WFC announced last week that it will write off 300bp or 3% of total loans which the bank considers problematic. That will take gross loan and lease defaults for the full year up to about 400bp or 4%, more than 2x the maximum probable loss from lending estimated by the IRA Bank Monitor or just inside the upper range for a "B" bond equivalent rating for the bank's portfolio.

The decision by WFC to immediately write down loans equal to 3x the expected defaults for all of 2007 may seem like bad news, but we view it as a sign of strength. Unlike the the big players in structured finance such as C, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER), WFC does not have much of a trading or capital markets operation.

The majority of WFC's Economic Capital needs stems from the investment book, followed by trading and then lending activities. The 0.8:1 ratio of Economic Capital to Tier One Risk Based Capital for the bank at the end of Q3 compared with just 0.5:1 for Q2, a more than 50% change in a single quarter. The increase comes from a big jump in WFC's securities portfolio.

Unlike many of its larger peers, WFC seems to have the capital and the earnings power to navigate its way through the coming credit risk storm.

Magna Carta .... mega-bucks!

1279 Magna Carta expected to fetch $30 million

Excerpt:

More than 800 years later, about 17 copies survive, and one of those, signed by King Edward I in 1297, will go up for sale December 18 at Sotheby's.

The document, which Sotheby's Vice Chairman David Redden calls "the most important document in the world," is expected to fetch a record $20 million to $30 million.

While earlier versions of the royal edict were written and then ignored, Redden said, "the 1297 Magna Carta became the operative version, the one that was entered into English common law and became the law of the land," ultimately affecting democracies around the world.

Today, its impact is felt by perhaps a third of the world's people, he said. This includes all of North America, India, Pakistan, much of Africa, Australia and other areas that made up the British Commonwealth.

"When it's something as enormously important as this, you try to get a handle on it," he said. "It is absolutely correct to say the Magna Carta is the birth certificate of freedom. It states the bedrock principle that no person is above the law -- that is the essence of it."

Only two copies of the Magna Carta exist outside Britain, one in Australia and the one Sotheby's is auctioning off.

An earlier Magna Carta version was loaned by Britain to the United States for its bicentennial celebration in 1976, but suggestions that it be made a permanent gift were rejected.

The 1279 Magna Carta was forced on Edward I by barons unhappy over taxes imposed to pay for his military campaigns in France, Wales and against Scottish rebel William Wallace. The levies were approved in the king's absence by his 13-year-old son, Prince Edward.

Written in medieval Latin on sheepskin that after 710 years remains intact and legible, the 1297 Magna Carta was owned for five centuries by a British family that put it up for sale in the early 1980s.


Wikipedia: Magna Carta

Comment: The Wikipedia article is very thorough!

Saturday happenings

Very cold here. Morning began at -1. Now 6 degrees.

1. Roger and I cleaned off the driveway. Roger scraped packed snow & ice out of the gutter.
   
2. We ran Roger's car over to the Mazda dealership and returned
   
3. Sister called at 2:50 with the news of Tom's death.
   
4. I made flight reservations to Dallas. Somehow we got very reasonable flights. Round trip for 2 for $ 507.
   
5. We drove back to Mazda to pick up Roger's car and then stopped at Caribou for coffee
   
6. Roger and Kathy came by for dinner and we brought in dinner from Sweet Taste of Italy
   

Tomorrow worship at 4th Baptist. Monday work and clearing the calendar for travel ahead.

Reading Promise Unfulfilled (Rolland McCune), tonight.

Tom Gilbert passes

My dear Brother-in-Law, Tom Gilbert, died today at 2:45. The above is a picture of Tom and my Sister from October.

Kathee and I are flying to Dallas on Tuesday.

How the substitute became the regular organist

The minister was preoccupied with thoughts of how he was going to ask the congregation to come up with more money than they were expecting for repairs to the church building. Therefore, he was annoyed to find that the regular organist was sick and a substitute had been brought in at the last minute. The substitute wanted to know what to play. "Here's a copy of the service," he said impatiently. "But you'll have to think of something to play after I make the announcement abut the finances."

During the service, the minister paused and said, "Brothers and Sisters, we are in great difficulty: the roof repairs cost twice as much as we expected, and we need $4000 more. Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please stand up."

At that moment, the substitute organist played, "The Star Spangled Banner." And that is how the substitute became the regular organist.

From my Sister-in-law, Kathy

Gold's waxing and waning allure

Gold’s Quirk: It’s Volatile, but Holders Feel Secure

Excerpt:

James K. Galbraith, an economist and public policy professor at the University of Texas, however, cautioned that investors who are considering a gold purchase now, either to hold or trade, should “be prepared to take a bath.” They should know, he said, what happened to those who waited in long lines outside shops on Jan. 21, 1980, eager to pay more than $900 apiece for coins containing an ounce of gold.


While gold is a hot commodity now, the demand by average investors is still far from what it was then. That was the top of the previous gold bull market, which had begun in January 1975, after President Gerald R. Ford signed a bill legalizing private ownership of gold coins, bars and certificates.


Gold ownership had been illegal since 1933, when, to forestall Americans from demanding that banks give them gold for their dollars, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order prohibiting it. (In the early 1970s, President Richard M. Nixon severed the last remaining links of the so-called gold standard that had made currency redeemable for actual gold.)


The early gold buyers in 1975 included Kenneth J. Gerbino, 62, who now manages private accounts and a hedge fund of gold mining stocks and who profits when buyers push up gold’s price.


“I could see that when the federal government prints money to pay its bills, inflation always results, and buying gold was the best way to keep up with it,” recalled Mr. Gerbino, whose business is based in Beverly Hills, Calif. “I’d go to a coin shop, give a guy $1,000 and get some coins.”


Gold started climbing strongly in 1978. In January 1980, with inflation nearly 14 percent, average investors afflicted by gold fever jumped into the market. So did experienced sellers like Anthony Calcagno, who was dealing rare coins in San Francisco. Less than six months earlier, he had purchased many South African Krugerrands for around $300 apiece.



Comment: Gold (or silver) may be purchased at Apmex.com or Ebay. I personally had a bad experience buying silver coins via Ebay where the seller cleverly accepted my order for 20 Silver American Eagles and then sent me ONE and used the shipping documentation as proof that that he had completed the sale. Ebay ultimately (after 90 + days and much documentation and communication) reimbursed me for the failed purchase. My own recommendation is not to make gold or silver a major portion of one's investments.

Investopedia

Forbes Investopedia

Comment: Investopedia is a helpful site for investment terms and topics. Unfamiliar with this acronym: CDO? Or "ad valorem"? Investopedia has the answers. (Eg. The $ 500 car article has the term "ad valorem")

In Praise of the $500 Car

In Praise of the $500 Car

Excerpt:

Welcome to the wonderful world of the $500 car. From public auctions to impound lots to private sales and eBay, they’re there for the taking. We’re talking old Fords that hardly ever fail, to mondo mileage minivans with the interiors to match. The cost of today’s ‘affordable’ commuter has rapidly sunk to the point where it’s nearly equal to the price of a new scooter. Even better, as the old saying goes, “They ain’t building em’ like they used too.” They’re building them better.

Thanks to huge advances in mechanical engineering, materials and manufacturing, the average vehicle has a remarkable ability to sustain itself well in six figures on the clock and double decades on the calendar– given the right owner and proper maintenance.

In my daily work as an auto auctioneer, I see the results of this every day: old Camrys old enough to drink in all fifty states that run as well as a twenty-year-old sewing machine; old Volvo wagons that you can’t kill with a stick, SUVs built for durability instead of bling that can still climb every mountain, conventional family sedans that have watched an entire generation grow up and head off to college, ready for grandchild duty.

For a true indication of the average car’s added endurance, look no further than Canada. Our neighbors in the Great White North recently reported that the number of 15-year-old vehicles on their roads had skyrocketed from just 800k in 1990 to 2.8m today. They’re not hanging onto to their vehicles longer because they’re poor. They’re doing it because they can. And the money saved is phenomenal. But the $500 car? How can that be a good deal?

First of all, understand this: the $500 car always has something wrong with it. Examples: the Subaru had a foul odor and a severely dented door. A $100 door and a $50 detail brought it back to its rightful glory. A 1989 Toyota Camry and a 1993 Eagle Vision I bought for $500 apiece needed nothing more than a $190 paint job (called a “scuff and shoot”). Two 1989 Volvo 240 Wagons, a 1988 Isuzu Trooper and a 1991 Ford Explorer Sport needed… well… nothing actually. They were just unpopular and ‘old’. Finally, a 1977 Mercedes 350SE bought for $250 needed a/c, new tires, and an alignment.

Comment: An article about a subject Nathan, Roger, and I often discuss.

Keeping hamburger safe

Meat Processors Look for Ways to Keep Ground Beef Safe

Excerpt:

Fifteen years after an outbreak at Jack in the Box restaurants made people aware that hamburgers could kill them, the American beef industry is still searching for a practical method to prevent the toxic E. coli strain from contaminating ground beef.

“If you gave me a million, zillion dollars and said give me a plant that doesn’t have E. coli, I couldn’t do it,” said Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. “It’s not about the will. It’s about the ability.”


Comment: Food irradiation is also a viable approach! Meanwhile, buy ground beef from a reliable source and cook it thoroughly! No steak tartare!

Kevin Everett is walking!

Bills' Everett walking on his own, in and out of rehab

Excerpt:

Kevin Everett is walking on his own at a Houston rehab center, the latest significant progress by the Buffalo Bills tight end in his remarkable recovery from a serious spinal cord injury.

"He doesn't have a full natural stride but, yeah, he's walking," a person close to the family told The Associated Press on Friday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of Everett's status.

The person said Everett has been walking under his own power since his release from Memorial Hermann/TIRR three weeks ago and is now an outpatient there. The person added Everett is picked up at his Houston-area home by car to attend daily rehab sessions and is able to walk to and from the facility.

"He's not driving or anything like that, but he is walking. He's not running. He is walking," the person said.

Doctors initially feared Everett would never walk again after what was described as a life-threatening injury while making a tackle in the Sept. 9 season opener against Denver. He was paralyzed from the neck down when he arrived at Buffalo's Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital and spent the first few days on life support.


Comment: Truly good news! I rejoice in his progress. All CFG Kevin Everett posts.

Dyslexics & compensatory skills

Tracing Business Acumen to Dyslexia

Excerpts:

It has long been known that dyslexics are drawn to running their own businesses, where they can get around their weaknesses in reading and writing and play on their strengths. But a new study of entrepreneurs in the United States suggests that dyslexia is much more common among small-business owners than even the experts had thought.

The report, compiled by Julie Logan, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Cass Business School in London, found that more than a third of the entrepreneurs she had surveyed — 35 percent — identified themselves as dyslexic. The study also concluded that dyslexics were more likely than nondyslexics to delegate authority, to excel in oral communication and problem solving and were twice as likely to own two or more businesses.

...

One reason that dyslexics are drawn to entrepreneurship, Professor Logan said, is that strategies they have used since childhood to offset their weaknesses in written communication and organizational ability — identifying trustworthy people and handing over major responsibilities to them — can be applied to businesses.

“The willingness to delegate authority gives them a significant advantage over nondyslexic entrepreneurs, who tend to view their business as their baby and like to be in total control,” she said.

Comment: Effective delegation is a key to organizational success, whether it be business, government or church! See Jethro’s advice to Moses in Exodus 18: "select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens" (vs 21)

Audi attracted by weak dollar!

Audi Considers Stateside Factory

Excerpt:

BMW builds Bimmers in South Carolina. Mercedes-Benz manufactures Mercs in Alabama. Now Audi's considering an American factory. According to Auto Backstage, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler told Auto Motor und Sport that the weak dollar has forced Ingolstadt to consider building a factory in the U.S. Audi is aiming for an eight percent profit margin; an American assembly plant could help them realize that goal

Trust goes out of mortgage business

Mortgage reprieve will leave investors on hook

Excerpt:

A temporary freeze on interest rates on some subprime mortgages may please homeowners and lenders, but the investors who bought securities backed by those mortgages soon may be on the phone to their lawyers.

"This is the kind of scheme that takes your breath away," said Richard Epstein, a University of Chicago law professor. "When people are losing breath, they run to their lawyers, not away from them."

"This is a real hammer," he said of the U.S. Treasury-led proposal that would have investors in mortgage-backed securities forgo billions of dollars in interest. "I think it's unconstitutional. It's confiscation of money."

A Minneapolis lawyer who has argued real estate cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, Jeff Eckland, said he foresees lawsuits on many fronts as a result of the plan -- both between private parties who feel forced to go along with mortgage forebearance and between investors and the government.

"If you can't trust a mortgage, what do you know you can trust in the real estate business?" said Eckland of Eckland & Blando.

Comment: For background consider Imagine a butcher making sausage. So you're an investor who invests in CDO's. You expect a certain return (interest rate). That bundle of mortgages in your CDO has already exceeded its expected default rate. And now a financial institution pressured by the government is unilaterally reducing your interest rate! Can you say "lawsuit"!

Another "gun-free" zone

Media Coverage of Mall Shooting Fails to Reveal Mall's Gun-Free-Zone Status

Excerpt:

A Google news search using the phrase "Omaha Mall Shooting" finds an incredible 2,794 news stories worldwide for the last day. From India and Taiwan to Britain and Austria, there are probably few people in the world who haven’t heard about this tragedy.

But despite the massive news coverage, none of the media coverage, at least by 10 a.m. Thursday, mentioned this central fact: Yet another attack occurred in a gun-free zone.

Surely, with all the reporters who appear at these crime scenes and seemingly interview virtually everyone there, why didn’t one simply mention the signs that ban guns from the premises?

The same was true for the attack at the Trolley Square Mall in Utah in February (a copy of the sign at the mall can be seen here). But again the media coverage ignored this fact. Possibly the ban there was even more noteworthy because the off-duty police officer who stopped the attack fortunately violated the ban by taking his gun in with him when he went shopping.

Yet even then, the officer "was at the opposite end and on a different floor of the convoluted Trolley Square complex when the shooting began. By the time he became aware of the shooting and managed to track down and confront Talovic [the killer], three minutes had elapsed."

There are plenty of cases every year where permit holders stop what would have been multiple victim shootings every year, but they rarely receive any news coverage. Take a case this year in Memphis, where WBIR-TV reported a gunman started "firing a pistol beside a busy city street" and was stopped by two permit holders before anyone was harmed.

Nebraska allows people to carry permitted concealed handguns, but it allows property owners, such as the Westroads Mall, to post signs banning permit holders from legally carrying guns on their property.


Comment: A tragedy no doubt. But reminds me of the Denver United Bank cash vault murders where the guards had no guns!

Gophers # 1 / Ohio State # 32

Gophers # 1 (in "cost per win")

Cost-per-win for Division I-A schools

Comment: view chart!

Rank	School	Coach	Salary	Wins	Cost per win
1	Minnesota	Tim Brewster	$1,000,000	1	$1,000,000
32	Ohio State	Jim Tressel	$2,367,000	11	$215,182

Romney speech: "courageous" or "myth & old chestnuts"?

Two views of the same speech! I'm much closer to Buchanan's view!

Pat Buchanan: Mitt's Hour of Power

Excerpt:

If Mitt Romney wins the Republican nomination, it will be due in large measure to his splendid and moving defense of his faith and beliefs delivered today at the George Bush Presidential Library.

The address was courageous in a way John F. Kennedy's speech to the Baptist ministers was not. Kennedy went to Houston to assure the ministers he agreed with them on virtually every issue where they differed with the Catholic agenda and that his faith would not affect any decision he made as president. He called himself "the Democratic Party's candidate for president who happens also to be a Catholic."

It was like saying: "I happen to be left-handed. I can't help it."

Romney did not truckle. He did not suggest that his faith was irrelevant to the formation of his political philosophy. While declaring, "I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause and no one interest," he did not back away an inch from his Mormon faith.



NY Times: The Crisis of Faith

Excerpt:

Mr. Romney tried to cloak himself in the memory of John F. Kennedy, who had to defend his Catholicism in the 1960 campaign. But Mr. Kennedy had the moral courage to do so in front of an audience of Southern Baptist leaders and to declare: “I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute.”

Mr. Romney did not even come close to that in his speech, at the George Bush Presidential Library in Texas, before a carefully selected crowd. And in his speech, he courted the most religiously intolerant sector of American political life by buying into the myths at the heart of the “cultural war,” so eagerly embraced by the extreme right.

Mr. Romney filled his speech with the first myth — that the nation’s founders, rather than seeking to protect all faiths, sought to imbue the United States with Christian orthodoxy. He cited the Declaration of Independence’s reference to “the creator” endowing all men with unalienable rights and the founders’ proclaiming not just their belief in God, but their belief that God’s hand guided the American revolutionaries.

Mr. Romney dragged out the old chestnuts about “In God We Trust” on the nation’s currency, and the inclusion of “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance — conveniently omitting that those weren’t the founders’ handiwork, but were adopted in the 1950s at the height of McCarthyism. He managed to find a few quotes from John Adams to support his argument about America’s Christian foundation, but overlooked George Washington’s letter of reassurance to the Jews in Newport, R.I., that they would be full members of the new nation.


Comment: What I did appreciate about the NT Times opinion piece:

[Romney] didn’t mention Thomas Jefferson, who said he wanted to be remembered for writing the Declaration of Independence, founding the University of Virginia and drafting the first American law — a Virginia statute — guaranteeing religious freedom. In his book, “American Gospel,” Jon Meacham quotes James Madison as saying that law was “meant to comprehend, with the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Mahometan, the Hindoo and infidel of every denomination.”

Comment: The NT Times piece also mentioned George Washington's Letter to the Jews of Newport, Rhode Island which was a response to Moses Seixas' Letter to George Washington. Below is George Washington's response:

May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.

Comment: Mormans, Jews, atheists, Christians, Hindus, Muslims should all be able to enjoy the religious freedom of the United States!

Opinion Journal on the Romney speech

What Iowans Should Know About Mormons: Mitt Romney's speech and American tolerance

Excerpts:

Yesterday, at the end of Mitt Romney's speech, he told a story from the early days of the First Continental Congress, whose members were meeting in Philadelphia in 1774: "With Boston occupied by British troops . . . and fears of an impending war . . . someone suggested they pray." But because of the variety of religious denominations represented, there were objections. "Then Sam Adams rose and said he would hear a prayer from anyone of piety and good character, as long as they were a patriot."

Were Adams alive today, he most certainly would hear a prayer from a Mormon. It is hard to imagine a group more patriotic than the modern Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But there is reason to believe that voters in Iowa and elsewhere will not accept Mr. Romney's invitation--put forward implicitly in his remarks yesterday at the George Bush Library--to ignore religious differences and embrace him simply as a man of character who loves his country.

........

The young men and women at Brigham Young University are among the smartest, hardest-working and most pleasant college kids you will find anywhere. (For better or worse, I have visited dozens of college campuses.) The student body lives by the Mormon principle: "The glory of God is intelligence." Most reside off campus without adult supervision, yet they adhere strictly to curfews, rules about contact with the opposite sex and every other church directive. They are purposeful but seem to enjoy themselves, spending their free time hiking in the sprawling desert. And BYU has America's largest ROTC program outside of our military schools.

This last fact is one I had occasion to think about on my trip. I left for BYU on Sept. 7, 2001, and returned home a week later. On 9/11, the students gathered for a campuswide devotional. The university president tried to comfort the students with "the eternal perspective." My eternal perspective is not the same as theirs, of course. But hearing more than 20,000 young people around me reciting the Pledge of Allegiance made me realize that our temporal perspective is the same. I'm sure Sam Adams would have agreed.



Peggy Noonan: Mormon in America: How Mitt Romney came to give The Speech--and how he did

Excerpt:

Mr. Romney gave the speech Thursday morning. How did he do?

Very, very well. He made himself some history. The words he said will likely have a real and positive impact on his fortunes. The speech's main and immediate achievement is that foes of his faith will now have to defend their thinking, in public. But what can they say to counter his high-minded arguments? "Mormons have cooties"?

Romney reintroduced himself to a distracted country--Who is that handsome man saying those nice things?--while defending principles we all, actually, hold close, and hold high.

His text was warmly cool. It covered a lot of ground briskly, in less than 25 minutes. His approach was calm, logical, with an emphasis on clarity. It wasn't blowhardy, and it wasn't fancy. The only groaner was, "We do not insist on a single strain of religion--rather, we welcome our nation's symphony of faith." It is a great tragedy that there is no replacement for that signal phrase of the 1980s, "Gag me with a spoon."

Beyond that, the speech was marked by the simplicity that accompanies intellectual confidence.



The Book of Romney: The debate over his convictions--religious, and political

Excerpt:

Mr. Romney mentioned the word "Mormon" only once, and he was right to steer clear of formal theology or specific practices. Some denominations are leery of--or openly hostile to--the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, considering it un-Christian, or even a cult. Surveys indicate that many voters oppose Mr. Romney for this reason, and his speech probably won't do much to convince them otherwise.

How unfortunate it would be if he were rejected on the basis of such irreducible doctrinal differences. The Mormons seem the very embodiment of "family values," and you couldn't invent a religious culture that lived more consistently with Biblical messages. Broadly speaking, most Mormons have, and come from, big families; they're regular churchgoers and give to charity; they don't drink, smoke, gamble or engage in premarital sex. On the scale of American problems, the Mormons don't even register.

Comment: I'm not going to evaluate a Presidential candidate on the basis of his (or her) religion! I happen to believe that Mitt Romney would be a better President than Mike Huckabee! But I am still pulling for John McCain!

Remembering the Commodore 64

Commodore 64 still loved after all these years

Excerpt:

On Monday, the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, will celebrate the C64's 25th anniversary. Computer pioneers will reflect on the C64's achievements and contribution to the industry. Jack Tramiel, the founder and CEO of Commodore, will attend, along with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and William C. Lowe, father of the IBM PC.

"It was the right machine for the time," said McCracken. "The Commodore 64 did a lot to popularize computers." Sold in shopping malls and discount stores and not just small computer stores -- the norm for the time -- the C64 became many people's gateway into the world of computers, said Brian Bagnall, author of "On the edge: The spectacular rise and fall of Commodore."

"It was so new," Bagnall said. Users could play many games and also learn the programming language of computers -- BASIC.

Jim Park, 39, a software developer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, got his start on a C64 in 1984 when he was 16. Park learned to program motion-graphics synchronized to dance music and ran a BBS, an electronic bulletin board system, the precursor to the Internet. "I really lucked out that something so obscure and nerdy has turned into the modern business and pop-culture phenomenon that it has," he said.

Wallstrom said it was the simplicity of the C64 that made it so great. "You switched it on and it was there, ready for input in a second. Programming on the C64 was straightforward because you got to command the processor directly. You had full control of the whole computer...that is something you don't have with any modern PC."


Comment: I had a C64 back then and used it for Flight Simulator and miscellaneous (non-productive but educational) Basic programming. For serious stuff (that would be word processing / sermon preparation) I had a TRS-80 and used "Allwrite" as a word processor.

For more on the C64: www.c64.com

The adjective "Clintonian"

George Will: None of the below

Excerpt:

Last Tuesday, Bill Clinton, trying to whet Iowans' appetites for another Clinton presidency, announced/discovered/remembered that he opposed the Iraq war "from the beginning," thereby revealing disharmony with his spouse, who voted for it. Backward reels the mind, to 1992, when Gov. Clinton explained his opinion of Congress's 1991 authorization of the Persian Gulf War: "I guess I would have voted with the majority if it was a close vote. But I agree with the arguments the minority made."


Such muddiness clarifies: Do voters who are weary of the scary clarity of the current president's certitudes really want to replace them with a recurrence of the hairsplitting evasions that created the adjective "Clintonian"?


About one thing, Hillary Clinton is, remarkably, both clear and opaque: Jefferson is anachronistic. "We can talk all we want about freedom and opportunity, about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but what does all that mean to a mother or father who can't take a sick child to the doctor?" Well, okay, what does "all that" mean to someone stuck in congested traffic? Or annoyed by the price of cable television? What does Mrs. Clinton mean?



Comment: George Will is not impressed with Edwards or Huckabee either!

On Edwards:

Edwards might, however, reconsider — he is, after all, a serial apologizer. Of his actions during his six years in the Senate, he says: My vote for the Iraq war? Sorry about that. For the Patriot Act? I don't know what I was thinking. For No Child Left Behind? Oops! For liberalized trade with China? Forgive me. For storing waste in Nevada's Yucca Mountain? I was for it before I was against it.

Comment: Those Clintons have mastered Doublespeak!

Romney: "Faith In America"

Text: "Faith in America"

Juxtaposed: Address of Senator John F. Kennedy to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association

Housing: Shock and Aftershock

Aftershock: Housing in the Wake of the Mortgage Meltdown



Comment: This study will set you back $ 3,995 big ones! But here is a synopsis:

No housing market upturn until 2010 - Moody's Economy.com

The US housing market is awash in unsold inventory and with home prices already down more than 5 pct from two years ago, the sector in the midst of the worst downturn since 1945, with measurable improvement not expected until 2010, said Moody's Economy.com.

In its study, 'Aftershock: Housing in the Wake of the Mortgage Meltdown', Moody's (nyse: MCO - news - people ) Economy.com said US housing prices should reach a trough in early 2009, by which time they will have fallen 12 pct nationally according to data gathered from 381 US metropolitan areas.

'The housing market is unravelling. The current housing recession will ultimately be severe enough to be characterised as a housing crash,' said Mark Zandi Moody's Economy.com chief economist.

The housing market will only find a bottom when significant progress is made in working off this inventory , which will require further severe cuts in new construction, reducing supply, and much lower house prices, which will ultimately restore affordability, and demand, the release said.

More:

House prices seen falling 30 pct

Excerpt:

House prices are forecast to fall 13 percent from their peak through early 2009. After accounting for incentives home sellers are offering buyers, effective declines peak-to-trough will total well over 15 percent, the report said.

Punta Gorda, Florida, and Stockton, California, are the hardest hit markets in the U.S., with price declines from peak-to-trough forecast at 35.3 percent and 31.6 percent, respectively.

"This is the most severe housing recession since the post-World War II period," Zandi told Reuters.

Thursday happenings

Two stupid things at work:

1. I failed to hang my handicapped placard from the rear view mirror. Someone informed ING (I park in an ING garage), who called Wells Fargo properties, who called me to say I was illegally parked in an ADA parking spot. Not a big deal, just another trip to the garage to hang the placard .... plus feeling stupid!
   
2. Then this afternoon as I was getting up to buy a soda, I slipped out of my chair and landed on the floor of my office. I was in an awkward position. My left leg was behind me and my right leg was in a yoga-like position. Not comfortable. Two guys came by and picked me up to my feet! My twice stupid in one day!
   

Kathee is at a women's church fellowship.

Garage door is acting up ... happens when it is this cold. Comes down a foot or so and then reverses. Multiple tries gets it to move a little more until it finally closes. Happened last Winter too. We may just move the vehicles around and ignore that bay until the weather warms.

Rachel called us from Connecticut and is looking forward to coming home tomorrow night. She's been gone for 2 weeks.

I had a nice chat with my Sister about Tom. She is very strong under these difficult conditions. My dear Brother-in-Law slips more every day.

We are looking forward to Friday and the weekend. I'm having coffee with Larry N. from work tomorrow.

Memorial Blood Center press release

MEMORIAL BLOOD CENTERS NOTIFYING DONORS OF POSSIBLE DATA LOSS

Excerpt:

Memorial Blood Centers has begun notifying the affected donors whose names and Social Security numbers were on the stolen computer. Notified individuals are being encouraged to monitor their financial accounts as a precaution. A special hotline has been established for donors who may have further questions about this theft. Donors with questions can reach the hotline by calling 888-333-1491.

Comment: I posted a comment on my earlier posting with a link to this press release. After posting, I tried the link and it abnormally ended. Hopefully this one will work for us all!

The Hopeless Mortgage Freeze Plan

Bush Subprime Plan: Too Much or Too Little?

Excerpts:

What would the plan accomplish? The plan is limited and tries to help homeowners, not speculators. It specifically targets borrowers who have teaser rates that eventually reset to much higher rates. Typically the rates are low for the first two or three years and are known as 2-28s or 3-27s.

For these borrowers, a rate freeze would only prevent foreclosure in the short term. The freeze is voluntary for mortgage lenders, who have no real incentive to participate.

...
A mortgage happens to be a contract between a borrower and a lender. Do we really want to be in a position where the government changes the playing field and makes legislative changes to modify those contracts? Would it even be legal to do so? The implications of any government deal are far-reaching and need to be better understood.

Given that mortgages are a contract, there's a larger problem here. How do we get the two parties together to agree to these modifications? Mortgages are often repackaged and then sold off to investors. How would the government get all of these investors into a room to make this decision?
....

According to Countrywide, 58.3% of people face trouble because of lost income, another 13.2% have illness/medical problems, and divorce causes problems for 8.4%. Can a government plan really stop these problems? I think not.


Comment: 5 pages ... read it all. The key question (in my mind): "Do we really want to be in a position where the government changes the playing field and makes legislative changes to modify those contracts?". The answer is NO!

More below:

S&P Says Mortgage Freeze Plan May Cause Downgrades

Paulson's Plan to Punish the Public

Excerpt:

Remember, the only reason those teaser-rate loans were made in the first place was because lenders (and thus the investors buying the mortgages from the lenders) could count on a much larger, contractually guaranteed payoff in the future, when those interest rates were due to reset. Take away that payoff, and you take away any incentive to loan to borrowers of marginal credit quality. Usher in an era when government and banks reset loan rates at their whim, and you can be sure that investors will never again buy securities based on adjustable-rate mortgages.

If you think credit is tight now, just wait until you yank away potential returns from the people putting up the capital for all those loans.

And let's not forget that Paulson's plan introduces an incredible moral hazard. By rescuing greedy and naive borrowers from their mistakes, our government encourages others to take big, stupid, bankruptcy-inducing risks, secure in the knowledge that the government will bail them out when times get rough. That means trillions of dollars in capital will be ill-invested yet again, something that's much less likely to happen when speculators are made to suffer the consequences of their behavior.



Paulson Subprime Plan Offers Little Aid, Analysts Say

Excerpt:

The extent of home price declines and economic conditions will have a ``far greater impact'' on the rates of loan modifications and foreclosures, wrote UBS's Zimmerman, who is also based in New York.

``I think it's lip service and essentially not meaningful,'' said Michael Burry, president of Cupertino, California-based hedge-fund firm Scion Capital LLC, which manages about $1 billion. ``It will only help those who don't need to be helped.''

Mortgage Mess: Is Relief in Sight? Why Bush's bailout will leave many borrowers out in the cold.

Excerpt:

Under the terms of the deal, lenders are offering to freeze the interest rates and monthly payments for five years for subprime borrowers who fit a limited set of conditions. Borrowers must be current on the loan, the loan's interest rate may not yet have reset, and the lender must determine that the borrower lacks the capacity to afford the higher payment if the interest rate adjusted upward. According to a study cited by today's New York Times, Barclay's Capital estimates that just 12 percent of subprime borrowers will benefit from the interest-rate freeze.
...
By definition, someone who has taken out a subprime mortgage has either shown a history of having trouble managing his credit or did a less than stellar job of shopping for a mortgage. (On Tuesday the Wall Street Journal reported that many subprime borrowers could have obtained a regular mortgage but were steered into a higher-cost loan.) So it's not surprising if many of these borrowers have also made other poor financial decisions. The government's bailout plan is trying to deal with the mortgage mess in isolation. Helping people with more complicated financial problems is trickier, not unlike the challenge facing doctors treating patients who suffer from two or more diseases simultaneously.




Final comment: We need less government interference in the markets not more!