Rock and Roll!!!

I'm quoted in a Carleton University Magazine article on the glory years of on-campus concerts in Porter Hall. This will likely be one of the few times that "United Church minister" and "sex-club scene" appear together in the same article and the subject is NOT a scandal involving the clergy - the 1984 concert by Frankie Goes to Hollywood is the topic here.

Haiti in Mourning

Very powerful slide show of Haitians at prayer.

Separatism of the Rich

Having been opposed to Quebec separatism my whole life, I now share Brian Topp's concerns about another kind of separatism, that of the rich: see today's Globe & Mail, as he discusses Newfoundland & Labrador Premier Danny Williams' surgery in the US:

Kind of like how governments in the industrialized West can pull together trillions of dollars in a matter of weeks to prop up and bail out speculators and profiteers who played computer games just a little too recklessly with our pensions and savings. While the same governments cannot find tiny fractions of those sums to end child poverty, illiteracy, or homelessness (this can't be done, a young soldier for the separatism of the rich explained to me during last year's coalition negotiations, because addressing those issues would be "fixed costs").

Kind of like how a rich man whose titanic ego (and remarkable energy) led him into the premiership of a Canadian province will not give two seconds' thought to the implications of buying himself care in an American health system tailor-made for wealthy people like himself. Even though he is himself the lead administrator of a public system built on fundamentally different -- and far better -- principles.

Twittering

Twitter proving its utility for anyone interested in travel - announcements about seat sales, train discounts, contests. So it's good for something other than celebrity musings and sightings.

Jesus, Jobs and Justice

New York Times review today of Bettye Collier-Thomas' authoritative Jesus, Jobs, and Justice: African-American Women and Religion. Reviewer Richard Thompson Ford states that:

Unfortunately, the civil rights movement has often lagged on the question of women’s equality even as it has led the nation on matters of race. Much of the blame for this must be borne by the religious institutions that have played a predominant role in the struggle for racial justice. Until recently, most black churches refused to grant women leadership roles, depriving them of the platform that so many black men have used to rally followers and challenge injustice. Despite these affronts, black women have remained the most faithful and abiding servants of the church, and they have been among the most diligent and effective activists for racial justice.

According to The Onion

It's meant to be tongue in cheek, but not too distant from reality: Court allows corporations to run for office.