Motley Moose – Archive

PastorDan at StreetProphets notices this story from Franklin, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee:

Faith Presbyterian becomes the third satellite prayer center for area Muslims who wish to pray communally but may not be able to get across town to one of the four area mosques. The other prayer sites are at Waukesha Memorial Hospital and the Muslim Student Center on Milwaukee’s east side.

“We’re very grateful to the church,” said Ajaz Qhavi, a Franklin physician and Muslim who worked with church officials on behalf of the Islamic Center of Milwaukee.

Faith Presbyterian’s pastor, the Rev. Deb Bergeson-Graham, welcomed the visitors as an opportunity for her congregation to live their Christian faith.

“I think we’re doing this, not because of what they believe, but because of what we believe,” said Bergeson-Graham. “It’s what Christ would have us do.”

These examples are very important in this day and age. The Republican party has co-opted an extremist message of what Christianity represents- or, perhaps, that extreme wing of Christianity has co-opted them- so we need to take every opportunity to remind them exactly who are the ones truly representing the example of a man who got nailed to a tree for saying how great it’d be if everyone was nice to each other for a change.

All the news that will fit into 100 seconds.

This is sooooooo freaking cool. I mean it, absolutely no snark involved, but you must watch all of it.

Like many since the election, I’ve been somewhat silent in the blogosphere. This is partly because I had to get my life back, and rid myself of late night blogging addictions, but also because I could see the big blogs reverting to type. The necessary unity of the campaign then fell into the predictable outpourings of repressed dissent, much of it a reversion to past battles.  But a provocative piece in UK’s prospect Magazine by Michael Lind has got me thinking about where we go from here.

The American centre-left has gone through several phases in the last century, some more successful than others: the Progressive and Populist movements in the early 1900s; the bold and successful New Deal synthesis of 1932-68; the defensive, cautious neoliberalism of the late 20th century. The next reinvention of the centre-left may begin during Obama’s term in office.

Is this true? And if the centre left needs to reinvent itself, where do we go for inspiration?

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, and a hearty blessing to you and your family this day. We have many things to give thanks for today- go share them with your family and friends.

In the meantime, I wanted to share a short prayer with you:

Almighty God, we thank you for our good fortune with full and grateful hearts. We thank you for our family and friends; we thank you for this community we’ve built and share. We ask your blessing this day, and to watch over us, especially in these troubling times; to keep us, our friends, our family, our country on the path to righteousness; for those suffering from discrimination in California; for our boys and girls overseas who can’t share this day with their families; for President-Elect Obama, to help keep his judgment clear and sound, to lead us through the specter of darkness from the last eight years. In your name we pray; Amen.

Thanks for our community, guys. God Bless, and have a great day.

Thank you TPMtv.

Thank you Headzup.

We haven’t gotten around to starting a discussion about health care, yet.  As usual, the rest of us are a step behind Obama – http://change.gov/page/content…

I’ve had a little too much exposure to the health care business. I’ve been a caregiver to two people who went through lengthy terminal illnesses. My mother passed away 22 months after being diagnosed with ALS. I ended up moving in with her for much of that time. I was it – 24/7, except for a few short breaks of a few hours duration. Luckily, she had good insurance as part of my father’s retirement benefits.

The second experience was just as, if not more, difficult.  

Authors note: I wrote and posted this at MyDD earlier this summer in response to another bloggers question about what I did as a Child Protection Investigator. As it seems a bit slow on the blogs during the holiday week, I thought I would post something I wrote when I could still put more than five sentences together.

Please note that this is a very long and deeply personal diary. If you are not into that sort of thing, please press the back arrow.

I have long believed that we are more alike than not, and that our stories may have relevance to others. I also think, to simplify C. Wright Mills, that the personal is political, and our lives are interwoven with personal and political experiences. I am certain this is true, even if we are not always aware of this. So if you are interested, you are welcome to follow me down the rabbit hole…

A fellow blogger requested that I tell her about my job, and perhaps give an example of an actual case. I am unable to give you any real case situations, because the privacy of our clients is one of the most important things we must protect. It is also (thank goodness), against the law to reveal any confidential information. However, I can tell you what I do, and give you some general idea of the kinds of cases I have dealt with. The last half of this diary deals specifically with some of my experiences in child protection.

Teams of heavily armed gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular tourist attraction and a crowded train station in at least seven attacks in India’s financial capital, killing at least 78 people and wounding at least 200, officials said Thursday. The gunmen were specifically targeting Britons and Americans and a top police official said the gunmen are holding hostages at two luxury hotels, the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels.

Marriage is a CIVIL RIGHT, not another casualty in the Culture Wars.