Ordinary Visionary

Open Hearts, Open Minds

I just finished reading the full transcript of the Commencement Address given by President Obama at Notre Dame last Sunday. Now before I continue let me say that the opinions I have today regarding the interruption to the President's speech are the same opinions I would have if it was President Bush who was at the podium. It's true that I never wrote about these instances when they happened but you'll notice I didn't write about much at all during the last few years. To me, "you'd never say that if Bush was in office" implies that either you don't know me very well or you agree with my argument but wish to find some way to poke a hole in it (or both).

I'm also aware that the President was prepared for the outburst that occurred, which was documented even in the transcript recorded on the White House website and which became the subject of hours of news commentary and a portion of this post. The issue I have with the young man, who interrupted Notre Dame's graduation ceremony shortly after President Obama took the stage and began congratulating the graduates on their achievement, is the motivation and true consequence of his display of free speech. While it served to get his face on national television and his six short words committed to the White House blog, it accomplished little more for the Pro-Life cause than a display of disrespect for the highest office in the country and a sense of self-importance that outweighed any regard for the graduates in the room. It was not the beginning of a dialog or a well-reasoned approach to Pro-Life principles; nor was it an appropriate time or place to get an undiluted message across. That moment, that graduation, was not about the protester or his beliefs or the unborn children he clearly wishes to fight for; it was about the culmination of four years of grueling hard work shared among all of the robed students in that room. Making the moment (ever so briefly) about him showed contempt not only for the office of president but for the years of hard work each student had to put in to get there. It exposed his intellectual walls rather than a willingness to initiate a discourse on the subject; it reduced his (presumably) complex views on the subject to the span of two brief sentences: "Abortion is murder! Stop killing children!"

Ironically, the domestic policy differences on abortion between the former and current administrations are minimal. Yet Pro Life activists never accused President Bush of "killing children" or "having blood on his hands" (the words of another Notre Dame protester). In fact, the Obama administration appears to be doing more to understand and reduce the number of abortions happening in the US, working with thought leaders on both sides more intentionally than any administration in recent memory. He's called for the development of a task force within his Domestic Policy Council that is working with Pro Life and Pro Choice advocates to seek a consensus on how best to approach the issue, and has addressed those who disagree with his perspective with deference.

Abortion is a complicated and deeply personal issue that permeates the individual histories of thousands of Americans each year. Each of us have deeply felt opinions on the issue that may conflict with our own philosophies on other issues. (How can one person reconcile being Pro-Life and Pro-Death-Penalty, Pro-War or even Pro-Gun, for instance?) The issue isn't whether we should be allowed to share or express our beliefs. The issue is whether we can do it out of respect for the common Image that is in each of us, or at least our common humanity, with open hearts and open minds. Put another way...

The question then is how do we work through these conflicts? Is it possible for us to join hands in common effort? As citizens of a vibrant and varied democracy, how do we engage in vigorous debate? How does each of us remain firm in our principles, and fight for what we consider right, without, as Father John said, demonetizing those with just as strongly held convictions on the other side?

And of course, nowhere do these questions come up more powerfully than on the issue of abortion.

As I considered the controversy surrounding my visit here, I was reminded of an encounter I had during my Senate campaign, one that I describe in a book I wrote called "The Audacity of Hope." A few days after I won the Democratic nomination, I received an e-mail from a doctor who told me that while he voted for me in the Illinois primary, he had a serious concern that might prevent him from voting for me in the general election. He described himself as a Christian who was strongly pro-life -- but that was not what was preventing him potentially from voting for me.

What bothered the doctor was an entry that my campaign staff had posted on my website -- an entry that said I would fight "right-wing ideologues who want to take away a woman’s right to choose." The doctor said he had assumed I was a reasonable person, he supported my policy initiatives to help the poor and to lift up our educational system, but that if I truly believed that every pro-life individual was simply an ideologue who wanted to inflict suffering on women, then I was not very reasonable. He wrote, "I do not ask at this point that you oppose abortion, only that you speak about this issue in fair-minded words." Fair-minded words.

After I read the doctor’s letter, I wrote back to him and I thanked him. And I didn’t change my underlying position, but I did tell my staff to change the words on my website. And I said a prayer that night that I might extend the same presumption of good faith to others that the doctor had extended to me. Because when we do that -- when we open up our hearts and our minds to those who may not think precisely like we do or believe precisely what we believe -- that’s when we discover at least the possibility of common ground.

That’s when we begin to say, "Maybe we won’t agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this heart-wrenching decision for any woman is not made casually, it has both moral and spiritual dimensions.

So let us work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions, let’s reduce unintended pregnancies. Let’s make adoption more available. Let’s provide care and support for women who do carry their children to term. Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded not only in sound science, but also in clear ethics, as well as respect for the equality of women." Those are things we can do.

Now, understand -- understand, Class of 2009, I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. Because no matter how much we may want to fudge it -- indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory -- the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable. Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.

Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words.

In the world of instant news and instant messages, it often feels unnatural to encourage open responses to our own expressions of ideas, or at least not those responses which require more than 140 characters to complete. Listening to opposition keeps my mind from falling asleep on important issues and humbles me when I am reminded that in my limited experience of the world I have much to learn.

Congratulations to Notre Dame's Class of 2009 and to all of the graduates who will shape the future of the world as we know it.

Some Thoughts on Diplomacy

Here is a passage of scripture that has gotten me thinking again about the value of talking (relating?) to our enemies. This passage recounts an act of diplomacy that would likely be considered foolish and 'inexperienced' today, yet is preserved in scripture as a timeless reminder of how an educated, cool-headed leader can do more with words than bombs in certain military situations.

In the spirit of disclosure, I should state that I am decidedly anti-war, anti-death-penalty, and pro-choosing-life (as is consistent with a culture of life). So when I read this passage today in second Samuel wherein an unnamed woman lead men and women alike to the wall to confront Joab and persuade him to withdraw his troops, I was comforted by the outcome of her diplomatic efforts. Here is a leader with little experience, exercising both oratory prowess and strength (dare I say a spine of steel?) in a show of civility and diplomacy toward her city's enemy…

2 Samuel 20:16-22 (New Living Translation)

¹⁶But a wise woman in the town called out to Joab, “Listen to me, Joab. Come over here so I can talk to you.” ¹⁷ As he approached, the woman asked, "Are you Joab?"

"I am," he replied.

So she said, "Listen carefully to your servant."

"I'm listening," he said.

¹⁸ Then she continued, "There used to be a saying, 'If you want to settle an argument, ask advice at the town of Abel.' ¹⁹ I am one who is peace loving and faithful in Israel. But you are destroying an important town in Israel. Why do you want to devour what belongs to the Lord?"

²⁰ And Joab replied, "Believe me, I don't want to devour or destroy your town! ²¹ That's not my purpose. All I want is a man named Sheba son of Bicri from the hill country of Ephraim, who has revolted against King David. If you hand over this one man to me, I will leave the town in peace."

"All right," the woman replied, "we will throw his head over the wall to you." ²² Then the woman went to all the people with her wise advice, and they cut off Sheba's head and threw it out to Joab. So he blew the ram's horn and called his troops back from the attack. They all returned to their homes, and Joab returned to the king at Jerusalem.

And some commentary on this passage from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary:

Justly is that place attacked, which dares to harbour a traitor; nor will the heart fare better which indulges rebellious lusts, that will not have Christ to reign over them. A discreet woman, by her prudent management, satisfied Joab, and yet saved the city. Wisdom is not confined to rank or sex; it consists not in deep knowledge; but in understanding how to act as matters arise, that troubles may be turned away and benefits secured. A great deal of mischief would be prevented, if contending parties would understand one another. Let both sides be undeceived. The single condition of peace is, the surrender of the traitor. It is so in God's dealing with the soul, when besieged by conviction and distress; sin is the traitor; the beloved lust is the rebel: part with that, cast away the transgression, and all shall be well. There is no peace on any other terms.

A Response to Focus On The Family's Presidential Scorecard

Wow. I'm still coming down off of a 90-minute debate between Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin. The media had hyped up how much of a train wreck this could be, given her abysmal performance in recent interviews, but what they completely underestimated was her ability to study hard and step up to the challenge of a debate.

Unlike a one-on-one interview, debates give each candidate a chance to go on the offensive with real-time feedback from their opponents. They also give candidates the chance to skirt an answer for 90 seconds until the audience has completely forgotten what the original question actually was. The fact-checkers are going to have a field day with what I just sat through. But at the end of the day this race isn't about Joe or Sarah. I'd argue that the race isn't really about Barack Obama or John McCain. It's about the kind of leadership America needs to get us through a complicated financial crisis, two distracted wars, and into a future that is healthier, safer, and better suited to our collective future.

What follows is a version of an email I wrote this past week that gets at the root of why I am convinced that Barack Obama is exactly what this country needs in a leader moving into the next four years…

The following email has been edited for public consumption.

…As if the words coming straight from the mouth of each candidate weren't enough, the mission and character of each man is perpetually filtered, dissected, reinterpreted, and mocked by the talking heads on all of the major news networks, lobbying organizations, and talk radio stations. With all of the noise, we are at risk of forgetting what is important to us, and of adopting the values and objectives that are important to someone else instead.

I looked over the recent Focus on The Family Presidential Scorecard, and the rest of this post deals directly with the insinuations made in that document, as well as the number of family issues that were conveniently left out. I am not a politician; I am an educated Christian female with decidedly strong opinions about the political issues facing families every day.

There were five of seven "family issues" listed in the scorecard that Barack Obama voted on (for the other two, he and John McCain were absent). I researched the five issues in question to gain an understanding of why he and Focus On The Family took a particular position for or against each issue, and to figure out where I stood on the issues as well.

Focus On The Family's "Family Issues"

1. Protect Grassroots Organizations in Lobby Reform Bill.

I was a little surprised to see this as the first "family issue" on the senate scorecard. (Personally, I don't believe that lobby reform is a family issue.) Focus on the Family was in favor of an amendment to this year's Lobby Reform act that would have excluded their own lobbying activities from the new transparency regulations on lobbying activity. Politically, I (and Barack Obama) are in favor of the kind of public disclosure that Focus on The Family opposes, but again I don't consider it to be a family issue so I'll leave it at that.

2. Embryonic Stem Cell Research Act. (link)

The bill in question would authorize the Department of Health and Human services to "conduct and support research on stem cells derived from embryos now stored in fertility clinics that would otherwise be destroyed." I am convinced that embryonic stem cell research does more to support life than it does to destroy it. The embryos in question in this bill would otherwise be discarded, but if President Bush hadn't vetoed it, they would have been used to develop treatments for "a myriad of diseases, conditions, and disabilities including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis."

I fully understand that stem cell research is a sensitive issue and I don't judge opposing viewpoints for their hesitation, but I believe that it is something that has the potential to dramatically improve the quality of life for millions of people suffering at home and around the world. And I can't understand how letting embryos be thrown away is more in line with a culture of life than using them to find cures and treatments for life-threatening diseases that take the lives of millions of Americans each year.

My grandfather was a brilliant surgeon until he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. His wife, my grandmother, later died of heart disease. And my one remaining grandparent continues a daily struggle with diabetes. I believe that there is great potential in these "castaway" cells that could prevent future generations from losing family members prematurely to treatable disease, and I think the treatments for these illnesses ought to be developed here at home.

3. Protect Health Insurance for Unborn Children.

The unborn were already covered under SCHIP by virtue of pregnant mothers being covered. This bill would have done little to change the real coverage of the unborn. Ultimately President Bush vetoed SCHIP coverage for over 3 million (born) children anyway, as a way to cut spending. The partisan culture of budget slashing without consideration of those affected, and quick decisions to use veto power on issues that affects millions of American children in need is something that I cannot stomach.

I desire a president who has his priorities straight. If the pocketbooks of big businesses (including healthcare companies) are your first priority, then your priorities are completely out of line. Basic human rights -- not just dollars -- are what's at stake. And the first should never be sacrificed for the latter.

4. & 5. Neither John McCain nor Barack Obama voted on either issue.

6. Federal Hate Crimes Act.

Focus on The Family opposed this bill, which established federal "hate crimes" as acts of violence against people based on a variety of different criteria. While I'm not sure that this is a "family" issue, I cannot understand how Christians could not support a bill that specifically punishes discriminatory acts of violence. Christ calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves, regardless of what a politician or lobbying organization views as the "degree" of another's sin.

From my research, the only reason I could find that Focus on The Family opposed the Federal Hate Crimes Act was that they considered "sexual orientation" to have over 30 different definitions. That position doesn't sit right with me. In His economy, we are equal in sin, and violent acts of hate should never be excused or downgraded because of a perceived difference in the guilt of the victim.

I'll also add that John McCain voted against the Violence Against Women Act (authored by Barack's running-mate Joe Biden). How is it the view of the "Christian right" that the government should sit on their thumbs and do nothing to more strongly deter and punish hate crimes and violence against women?

7. Confirmation of Judge Leslie Southwick to U.S. Court of Appeals

Again, I am not sure how this is a family issue.

My Family Issues: Healthcare

All of that said, I guess it follows that I should explain what I do believe to be family issues. The most important family issue to me right now is healthcare reform. We have a system in this country that is based on private companies whose profits depend on denying coverage for their customers. The more ways they can find to determine that a procedure is "experimental" or unnecessary or uncovered because of a pre-existing condition, the better their margins look. This puts capitalism between doctor and patient, and has been known to leave the homeless who cannot pay their bill on the side of the road as sick as they were when they sought a doctor's help.

When I look at the Gospels I see a Christ who taught something that may have been as confusing to the government and tax collectors in those days as it is to businesses today: "I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me." And then, Luke 4:40 ("As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one.") seems to indicate that Jesus treated people as if physical healing (healthcare) was a fundamental human right, regardless of the depth of a person's sin or the measure of a person's affluence. What if we had a government who saw to it that every person in need of a doctor was able to see one and be treated, as every other developed Western nation has done?

If you're interested, the (nonpartisan) Children’s Defense Fund Action Council has also put out a presidential scorecard with 10 issues of Children's healthcare defining the grade on this subject for each Senator. Senator McCain scored an abysmal 10%.

My Family Issues: Education

Education is another important family issue to me particularly because of my mother, who brought me up with strong opinions on public education. I believe that every student, regardless of whether they were born in rural Arkansas or downtown Manhattan, deserves a world-class education. I believe in programs that promote continuing education and merit/need-based pay incentives for teachers, as well as community service-based initiatives for college-bound students seeking financial aid. I believe in living up to the mandates in No Child Left Behind, by putting the necessary funds behind promises to lower class sizes and invest in special education programs.

Parents of special needs children don't just need a "friend" or an "advocate" in the White House. They need a system that truly gives their children attention proportional to their individual needs, a system that doesn't withhold funding for programs crucial to successful early intervention. I believe that if we (as a nation) are to continue innovating in science, medicine and green technologies, we need students who are prepared to compete on a global level with other countries whose young students are already years ahead of ours.

Senator McCain's solution to our education system's problems is to move public school funding into a voucher program and lift the school zoning system so that parents can choose a better school if their kid is in a failing one. He says that this free market system will encourage competition between schools, and that the bad school will naturally improve in time out of necessity (survival of the fittest?).

I cannot understand how moving students from failing schools into successful ones does a single thing to improve the quality of education students at either school will receive. Larger class sizes in the "good" school combined with an influx of students accustomed to the practices of their old failing schools seems to be a recipe for disaster. And what about the students still attending the F school? Perhaps their class sizes will be smaller, but fewer students also means fewer dollars.

My Family Issues: The Economy

But enough about education. Economic issues have also crept into the realm of "family" issues. We've heard a lot from both sides on how they would be the agent of change when it comes to the economy. But how is John McCain delivering straight talk when he insists that he's the clear choice to clean up Wall Street and initiate necessary regulation, when he has a very long history of doing just the opposite? And his running-mate isn't turning out to be the conservative she claimed to be, either. I'll give the senator some credit for his warning about F&F two years ago, but if he didn't see the sub-prime lending crisis as a real issue what exactly was he referring to? If you don't understand the root of an issue, how can you know how to fix it?

My Family Issues: Abortion

Then there are the timeless issues... The issues that, no matter what election year it is, are going to define the two parties. I really want to get into the environment (please, please read the scorecard), but I'll hold back because there's a bigger one keeping believers tied to one side of the political fence: Abortion.

I'll tell you a bit about my own history in order to frame my personal position on this issue.

Five years ago, right around this time of year, I was in my first year of college (also my senior year of high school). I was living on campus in the dorms with a beautiful roommate who had grown up in a conservative household. She was in love with her newfound freedoms -- getting to eat whatever she wanted, date freely, party on school nights, and do basically anything she wasn't allowed to do at home. She had a boyfriend -- a mean one who I couldn't stand because I saw how badly he treated her. As it turned out, he was forcing her to do things she didn't want to do, and stealing money from her before he'd sneak away early in the morning. I begged her to leave him, but she was afraid.

Around the middle of October she became depressed. She spent every day holed up in her bedroom and refused to go to classes. She came out for meals but only when she knew her friends wouldn't be there or when I brought her food from the campus cafeteria. After two weeks of this change in behavior I visited the campus psychologist and asked her what to do. After a few meetings, a series of events led to her taking a positive pregnancy test, and being faced with the biggest burden any lost seventeen-year-old girl can face.

She had almost no money, she was afraid of her parents (who coincidentally drove a minivan with a Choose Life license plate on the back), she was failing most of her classes, and she had this abusive boyfriend who came and went as he pleased. Meanwhile I was not entirely grounded in my faith but I did know how I felt about abortion as a form of birth control -- that I was wholeheartedly against it.

So I emailed my pastor and asked him what I was supposed to do. And amid all of the heated protest by Christians at the women's clinic I finally took her to, the voice of one pastor completely changed my understanding of the Christian responsibility in this situation... After fighting for her child, after doing everything I could to support her carrying to term, the only thing I had left to do was to love her, cry with her, and hug her, because that's what she needed most in the world. My pastor even offered to come sit with me at the clinic on the worst day of my friend's life, knowing that in loving her I too would require a lot of support. It was a huge turn of events for me.

There's this idea among many Christian contemporaries that we should elect judges based on their opinion on one 1973 court case (Roe v. Wade), with the hopes that it will one day be overturned.

But based on my experience, the overturning of a court case does little to prevent the kind of situation my roommate ended up in. What if she had received better sex education? What if she had learned how to defend herself from someone she thought she trusted, but who ultimately ended up raping her? What if she had been offered the financial resources necessary to support a child at age 18? What if she had the opportunity to get health insurance to afford the delivery of a child? What if she was guaranteed protection from her abuser, so that he would not be able to hurt her or her child? What if?

As I looked around the clinic that day, I remember thinking, "I wonder what brought her to this point," when looking at each woman in the room. There are these complex stories behind many unwanted pregnancies, many involving the woman's inability to afford a child or her lack of understanding how her own reproductive system works or her fear of the man who shares at least half of the responsibility for her pregnancy. It's not so cut and dry.

At the end of all of this, I am pro-life. But because of my experience my pro-life stance has been shaped into something much bigger than a supreme court ruling. I believe (as Barack Obama does) that our first priority should be to aid the women who find themselves making this difficult decision, providing them with the emotional, financial, and physical (health) resources they need to raise a child and ensure that each child receives the best healthcare and education that this country has to offer, regardless of her means.

A supreme court ruling does nothing to get at the roots of the issue. It's only a band-aid that provide states with the right to send teenagers and women across state lines to have the same procedure they would have had without leaving their city. It's going to take a person with real compassion, a person with a history of treating women with respect and dignity, a person who has fought for women's rights and not voted against them, to even begin to address this sensitive issue.

My Family Issues: A Culture of Life

I should clarify that my definition of pro-life also extends to the born. I (personally) cannot simultaneously be pro-life and pro-death-penalty or pro-war. The number of innocent civilians killed in Afghanistan alone outnumbers the Americans killed in the September 11th attacks. We found out too late that Iraq was an unjustified war; let's return responsibility to the Iraqi government and return the money we would spend prolonging the war to addressing the needs here at home.

Life is an issue that has somehow been split over party lines, and that I hope will one day be a priority for both sides, with respect to both the born and unborn among God's children (that's all of us).

Please check out Barack Obama's positions on women's issues for more information on his views.

I know this has been a terribly long read and I am truly grateful to you for listening. I just thought it was important that I share how I have carefully weighed the issues against my biblical understanding and personal life experience, and that I (and my husband) truly are putting family first when we cast our ballots for Barack Obama.

my heart is breaking...

...for Australia.

The systematic abuse of Aboriginal children should be Australia's greatest shame.

Young lives have been ruined by the brutality of sexual predators, both black and white. Girls as young as five have been treated for sexually transmitted diseases. Others have been prostituted for alcohol and petrol.

The tragedy is that these crushing issues are not new.

Australia has long grappled with these seemingly intractable problems but there is no agreement about where the solutions might lie.

Clearly there has been far too much talking and a scandalous lack of progress.

Foreign Policy Remarks at CCGA

"We must neither retreat from the world nor try to bully it into submission – we must lead the world, by deed and example.

"We must lead by building a 21st century military to ensure the security of our people and advance the security of all people. We must lead by marshalling a global effort to stop the spread of the world’s most dangerous weapons. We must lead by building and strengthening the partnerships and alliances necessary to meet our common challenges and defeat our common threats.

"And America must lead by reaching out to all those living disconnected lives of despair in the world’s forgotten corners – because while there will always be those who succumb to hate and strap bombs to their bodies, there are millions more who want to take another path – who want our beacon of hope to shine its light their way.

"This election offers us the chance to turn the page and open a new chapter in American leadership. The disappointment that so many around the world feel toward America right now is only a testament to the high expectations they hold for us. We must meet those expectations again, not because being respected is an end in itself, but because the security of America and the wider world demands it.

"This will require a new spirit – not of bluster and bombast, but of quiet confidence and sober intelligence, a spirit of care and renewed competence. It will also require a new leader."

Link: BarackObama.com | Foreign Policy Remarks at CCGA.

Pray for The Peace of... Part 2

I quoted a passage from Psalms a few days ago in light of the events taking place in Israel right now, and thinking about it a bit more I decided it was a bit short-sighted of me to do so. I think the Bible makes it very clear that Israel has a special place in God's heart. But that is not to deny the fact that in Christ, all nations are renewed. In Christ, God ushers into His kingdom a restored world, alongside his beloved Isreal.

So in the same breath we pray for peace in Israel, we should pray for peace and for the wisdom of the leadership of Haifa, of Beirut, of Baghdad, all the 'Stans, France, China, India, Egypt, all nations… There should never be a celebration at the dropping of bombs or the extermination of life. And there should never be prejudice in which countries deserve our prayers for peace.

Pray For The Peace of Israel

Psalm 122 (ESV)

¹ I was glad when they said to me,
"Let us go to the house of the Lord!"
² Our feet have been standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem!

³ Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together,
⁴ to which the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
⁵ There thrones for judgment were set,
the thrones of the house of David.

⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
"May they be secure who love you!
⁷ Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers!"
⁸ For my brothers and companions' sake
I will say, "Peace be within you!"
⁹ For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.

Fair Trade Consumer Electronics?

Since I stopped working for Apple over a year ago I haven't kept up much with the hype and the flurry of news surrounding any product release or company scandal. It used to be like part of the job for me to read all the news articles that came out about Apple and to pore over product documentation so that I could seem crazy smart on the sales floor. As much time as I spent on the job both in and out of the store, it never really seemed like work, which is what made this so funny (in a I-shouldn't-be-laughing-at-this kind of way).

I just caught wind that Apple has been the subject of allegations regarding their iPod factories in China, where workers reportedly work for 15 hours a day and make $50 a month. Clicking around articles about the charges, I came across a comment someone left on a Slashdot post:

"... who can consider working on Apple products 'work'? Instead it is like Christmas play time every day. When you work on an Apple product, you are like an elf in Santa's North Pole! Sure you only get 50 bucks a month, but you can go visit the marmalade forest and make bubblegum pie whenever you want! And furthermore, you get good karma, which ensures that you will go to heaven and receive 72 virgin PowerBooks with infinite Altivec and a double dual core. We should be envious of these lucky women. They are an inspiration to us all."

Yikes. Talk about brand idolatry. The same article that quoted this Slashdot reader also quoted Leander Kahney from Wired Magazine.

"[Meeting a minimum standard for workers is] the right thing to do of course, but it's also smart business -- something Jobs should surely understand," he writes. "For Apple's demographic -- well-heeled urbanites -- human rights and labor practices are, presumably, important matters. They buy fair-trade coffee, but iBooks and iPods are not an issue?"

Is a new wave of Fair Trade consumer electronics on its way? Is following the 'green' trend the answer to this global issue?

For a certain crowd (particularly Apple's market base, the "well-heeled urbanites") it may be. But I have a sore feeling about the reality of sweatshops. Perhaps I am alone in this, but do you think that enough people would really pay more for a product just to have the peace of mind that the people who put it together have safe working conditions, medical benefits, and reasonable salaries? How much more? And what must it feel like for all of those workers who know that they would have to spend six months' salary to buy just one of the products they make hundreds of every day? What do they see when they look at America through that lens? I have such a heart for these people but my mind doesn't know what to do with the realities of their situations. The phrase Rescue Is Possible has been resonating through my mind this past week, but where is the rescue for this flock?

Tropical Depression ONE

And so it starts… I guess I should make sure my house is insured now. :(

Link: Tropical Depression ONE.

Comment is free: The song remains the same

Link: Comment is free: The song remains the same.

No doubt the Muslim region is in need of a thoroughgoing process of reform. But this true premise must not lead us to false conclusions.

Any effort of reform worthy of the name must meet two fundamental conditions. It must be deeply rooted in the concerns, needs and priorities of the internal Muslim body, and acutely aware of its geopolitical context and the mechanisms of hegemony at work therein.

That is crucial in a region destined since the 18th century to be the cornerstone of western projects of expansionism and the scene of much blood, lies and illusions, from Bonaparte's "enlightenment" and "progress" to Bush's "modernisation" and "reform".

This is a great entry from the comment is free… blog. I encourage you to read it in its entirety if you're interested.

Ohhh, you were serious?

After I stopped laughing, I realized the folks at the Competitive Enterprise Institute were seriously suggesting CO₂ emissions are not a problem, but "just life." Do these videos frighten anyone else as much as they do me?

Link: Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Bono's Remarks at The National Prayer Breakfast

“      It's not about charity, it's about justice.
— Bono”

Some of you may have read or heard this already, but this is the first time I've read it. I am truly humbled by Bono's ability to communicate a message of what I believe is the world's greatest injustice to the very people who can initiate change. I have copied the contents of the article into the rest of this post, or you can read it for yourself at the DATA website.

ONE by ONE

Today's post will be short because it is the last chance I have to digest a semester's worth of Physics II before the final exam. Then the semester will be over!

You've probably heard of the ONE campaign, "a new effort by Americans to rally Americans — ONE by ONE — to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. ONE is students and ministers, punk rockers and NASCAR moms, Americans of all beliefs and every walk of life, united as ONE to help make poverty history."

I love this campaign because it brings to light the fact that less than ONE percent of the US budget is dedicated to this cause, even while decision makers would have us believe that our humanitarian efforts are far greater than that.

This movement is dedicated to helping the world's poorest people help themselves, and to preventing the spread of AIDS in those places. America gives less than one percent to this cause now, and increasing that number will not only help the poorest countries in the world, but help the way those countries see us. "One percent is national security, enlightened economic self interest, and a better safer world for us all."

Find out more about the ONE campaign here, and check out who is already supporting this campaign by visiting the photo gallery. If you believe in this cause, sign the ONE declaration and donate a small portion of what you have been blessed with by purchasing a few white wristbands. Finally, to keep up with what the ONE campaign is doing in the world and the issues that they stand for, visit the ONE blog.

Earth Day

So I was a little sad to get my results on this one. I guess the SUV hurts the score… Take the Earth Day Footprint Quiz in honor of Earth Day and see how you rate.

"House" of worship

I used to live in Orange County (now I live a few minutes from it) and hadn't heard about this story until now. Apparently a local resident and rabbi was fined $56,000 for holding prayer services in his home because of a county ordinance prohibiting "operating a synagogue or any function related to a synagogue and/or church services...." in a person's home. Interesting, because Status has been holding Small Groups and is starting house churches in people's homes. At least now the US Court of Appeals ruled that the county ordinance is vague and unconstitutional, so we won't have to go through the same nightmare this rabbi apparently went through. I can't believe that in America today there are still public legal struggles against peaceful, private religious gatherings.

Link: ADF: "House" of worship: Religious freedom in one's own home reaffirmed - Alliance Defense Fund - Defending Our First Liberty.