Month: January 2008

The Bible and a gallon of bleach

Just found Jen Nathan via Twitter. She’s an indy public radio producer in Portland. Her latest story is “The Bible and a gallon of bleach.” It’s a great story and a great topic. Reminds me of the charity stores the Salvation Army has around the world.

Peter Donatelli is an ordained Catholic priest. He also runs his family’s laundromat in Portland, Maine. Through his passionate beliefs and awkward sense of humor, Father Peter has created a public space where people actually talk about religion and politics. Some customers love it. Others hate it. But everyone agrees that it’s good for the community.

listen online

How much would you save?

fairtax.jpg

Just checked out the Fair Tax Calculator offered by the Americans For Fair Taxation.

I used some rough estimates but here’s what I would save if we abolished the IRS and replaced it with the Fair Tax Bill:

With the Fair Tax, I’d get:
34.60% MORE spendable income.
$12,385.43 MORE purchasing power.
$15,676.76 LESS federal taxes.

How much would you save?

DMN reports the race is down to two

Even after the DMN gave their endorsement to Mike Huckabee a month or so ago, and Metro Columnist Steve Blow predicted Mike Huckabee would win the nomination, Bruce Tomaso over at the DMN seems to think the race for the president is down to just two candidates on both sides of the aisle now.

I guess the other states who haven’t voted yet don’t count or matter. Sucks for us.

Seems like everyone has quickly forgotten how John McCain’s campaign was dead in the water after Iowa and how Mike Huckabee was the GOP longshot in the company of Ron Paul just two or three months ago. And they also seem to forget how quickly everyone named Rudy Guiliani the top dog in the race just six months ago.

My oh my, how things can change.

Oh well, I guess that’s why he get’s paid the big bucks.

DallasBlog.com seems to have a different take on the whole matter.

What’s yours?

John Edwards expected to drop out

Just last week I heard John Edwards promise NPR listeners he would stay in the race till the convention.
My how things can change.
The AP is reporting he’s expected to drop out of the race today after poor performance in each of the primaries so far.
I guess eventually you have to win at least one to have a chance at the nomination.

Which of these is different?

America is the “land of freedom” a “melting pot” and as Christians we’re taught to “love one another” but how has our attitude changed since 9/11?

From This American Life:

Serry and her husband’s love story began in a place not usually associated with romance: the West Bank. That was where the couple met, fell in love and decided to get married. Then Serry, who was American, convinced her Palestinian husband to move to America. She promised him that in America their children would never encounter prejudice or strife of any kind. But things didn’t quite work out that way.

How should we as Christian Americans respond to those around us who may not see eye to eye with us?

Also I learned in this particular podcast, there’s a statue of the prophet Muhammad in a federal building in Washington D.C. Didn’t know that.

In the 1930s, the designer of the U.S. Supreme Court made a frieze to adorn the courtroom walls. It depicted eighteen great lawgivers through ages, including Moses, Solon, Confucius…and Muhammad. The only problem is that Islam forbids such portrayals of the prophet. Host Ira Glass talks to Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, about why the frieze is offensive to Muslims, and what they tried to do about it.

Interesting. Listen online.