So the Republicans are in a pickle. Hard to know what to do when your convention is scheduled during a devastating hurricane. I don’t envy them, really. I’ll be interested to see what they do.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration will try to do a better job with Gustav than they did with Katrina. Here’s the thing. Our government seems pretty good at handling disasters that afflict rich white people. But if something hits poor people or people of color (let alone both!), then all bets are off. Wildfires taking at million dollar homes? No problem. Big storms affect suburban communities, disrupting key soccer games? Fixed? Mass devastation, destroying entire communities and displacing tens of thousands? Um, not so much.

My friends who have gone to New Orleans to do mission work tell me it’s still a devastated place, three years after Katrina. Oh, sure, the tourist spots are better, but the places where actual people lived are still filled with rotting houses and empty lots. This pattern of neglect began right when Katrina was wiping out New Orleans.

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Brilliant television pundit Stephen Colbert has found an entire industry that’s doing well under the Bush regime.

Here’s a “live cartoon” showing your personal information being intercepted by the NSA. It’s astounding to me that this Orwellian vision of the world has become real, and we have happily stood by and cheered it on in the name of “national security.”

I wonder when the public acceptability threshold will be crossed. Illegal random detentions? Check! No right to prevent search and seizure? Check! Blatant lies about government activities? Check! Arbitrary wars begun? Check! Government officials immune from prosecution by the laws that bind the rest of us? Check!

What’s next? What are we Christians to make of all this?

Via boingboing.

Image via Wikipedia

Looks like I’m having a bit of a Youtube festival today. This one relates to the core of my childhood: the LEGO. In particular, it relates to this week’s 30 year anniversary of the debut of the LEGO minifigure. Wired says this:

On August 25, 1978, the Lego minifigure was born. This was a hugely important transition for Lego. For many years they sold sets allowing builders to create cars or buildings, but something was missing — a human element. The minifig gave them that humanity, and very quickly it became an iconic symbol of the company second only to the brick itself.

The first minifigs had yellow skin and fixed, pleasant expressions. It was not until 1989 that this changed, with a pirates set debuting figures with eye patches, hook hands and peg legs. 1997 saw the minifig’s official entry into the digital realm, starring in the videogame Panic on Lego Island. It was not until 1998 that minifigs with realistic skin tones were released, in conjunction with a new line of sports figures. As of 2004, all licensed products featured minifigs with natural coloration.

Don’t miss this Youtube tribute to the minifigure:

I’m just wishing you could get LEGO copes, chasubles, dalmatics, and tunicles for a proper minimass.

Thanks to Lisa for this gem, reminding me why it is that I’m voting Republican.

Please be advised: this is one of many posts in which 7WD practices irony. Go watch the video. You’ll laugh. Unless you’re a Republican. Then you might laugh anyway.

This has been making the rounds of the blogosphere. I’m really sorry I can’t remember where I saw it first, so I can’t give proper credit. I hope this doesn’t ruin my blogging karma. Anyway, enjoy.

Sign war

UPDATE: Note, thanks to A Different Street for catching this as another project of the Church Sign Generator. I should have thought to check there. This revelation doesn’t change the humor, though it would be a better story if these bad been real signs. Could someone with a marquee sign please engage another church in an epic battle of words?

This one caught my attention recently. It’s an article about the need to think. Seems simple, but when is the last time you set aside your so-called work and just spent time “thinking.” We all get consumed by quotidian minutiae and pseudo-urgent matters, especially clergy. This is probably why so many of us professional types are near burn-out and why churches, in particular, often seem to lack vision and purpose. As leaders it is VITAL to set aside time — daily, if possible — for thinking.

Anyway, here’s a snippet of the BBC piece. It concerns a strategy for finding time to think during a normal work day.

The most common advice boils down to something that might seem obvious: only work when you’re being paid to work. The rest of the day is yours to do with as you wish - and you may wish to devote it to thought.

Obvious, perhaps, but not obvious enough that we do it: various surveys conducted on behalf of food outlets suggest that between 50 and 80% of us skip an actual break for lunch, let alone using the hour for quiet contemplation.

You might not have heard the unspeakable expression “eating al desko”, but if you’ve been in an office, you’ve probably witnessed the sorry spectacle of a workstation becoming a dining table for seven minutes and a hastily-chomped panino.

“We have to make sure that people in offices go out at lunchtimes,” says David Hunter, chief executive of Lifelong Learning UK. “If you leave your desk to wander up the street, you come back refreshed and more able to work.”

OK, now go think about this. And make time for some thinking tomorrow.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Seven whole days is now on the air. After Lambeth, I was a bit inundated with parish and family matters, but all is well. I have once again managed to accumulate a large stash of blogtastic items, so look for some stuff here in the next few days.

As I write, I’m crouched on the floor near a trash can at O’Hare. It seems that this is the only free electrical outlet in all of Terminal B. The lack of outlets is almost enough to make a person choose to connect through another city.

In any case, thanks for your patience whilst (I’ve decided to keep that in my vocab, post-Lambeth) I was neglecting this blog.

Sad, but true.

From GraphJam, which should be in your blogroll.

Now that I’m back to work in the parish, and most of the dust has settled, I hope to post some reflections on the Lambeth Conference. Some of these will be more “serious” than others. For today, we begin with some levity.

One thing I noticed at the Conference is that several bishops have surnames that rhyme with the names of their See. I’ll list the few that I noticed. Perhaps you, dear reader, can supply some more. 7WD could become the official repository of such things.

Without further delay, here’s my list:

• Bishop Lane of Maine
• Bishop Herft of Perth
• Bishop Bakare of Harare
• Bishop Kwong of Hong Kong

Now, it’s up to you to add to the list…

This is a bit of geeky humor. If it’s not funny to you, then you are red. Sorry.

more graph humor

BabyBlue Online asks the question. The answer, as reported in the Living Church, is “yes.” But it’s not as exciting as it’s made out to be. The “intrepid” Steve Waring could have gotten a copy as easily as anyone else. In fact, there are several alternatives floating around. I happened to read this particular one in its entirety and I can say that it will not get the time of day from anyone. The Covenant Design Group will make further revisions next spring, and that’s the only one that matters, really.

There was a self-select session for “concrete proposals” to ameliorate the situation in the Communion, and I believe this draft of an alternate covenant was presented there. It was not the only proposal. Some of them may be helpful. But the Lambeth Conference is not like other events that BabyBlue might have covered. I do not expect last-minute surprises of consequence. The Covenant process is moving along (whether or not that’s good is a matter for debate). The final statement of the Lambeth Conference has been circulating for all to see. Sorry, but sometimes a Conference is just a conference.

All this talk of “rival” drafts and so forth makes it sound as if there’s great intrigue, angst, and crisis here. The differences here among bishops are very real, but there’s none of the usual operatic drama that some might like to find. This Conference presents a new narrative, requiring a fresh reading. Sadly, many people will stick to the old familiar librettos, waiting for a scene that may never take place.