The scandals that have rocked our nation over the past several years, as well as the mountainous difficulties posed by the recent economic crisis, all pose an additional challenge for the incoming Obama administration.

Currently at risk is not just our 'way of life', or our 'lifestyle', but the citizen's ability to trust nearly every institutional body organized to facilitate our national and communal life.

Whether its Jack Abramoff or Tom Delay, whether its Enron or AIG, Bernard Madoff, Illinois governor Rod Blagojevitch, or Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson, there is a real danger when mixed with the our fiscal woes, that, what appeared to be the death of apathy and the birth of hope, can give way to resignation and disillusionment.

"To many people, free will is a license to rebel not against what is unjust or hard in life but against what is best for them and true." (Dean Koontz, The Darkest Evening of the Year)

How many times have I seen their awful truth lived out among young and old, friends and strangers, especially the poor. I can't explain all of the reasons back of this social phenomenon. And, while the principle doesn't apply to everyone, there being numerous notable exceptions to its harsh truth, I can't count the times I've seen the reality at work.

It is as if a strange power works in the inner city among the poor. Rising out of a conspiracy that intensifies the negative impact of...

Angst continues over the invitation of Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at inauguration ceremony for Barack Obama. It is seen by many of our gay and lesbian citizens and their supporters as a betrayal of the President-elect's campaign promises as well as another signal that 'change' means more of the same.

Lost in the controversy is the fact that Rev. Joseph Lowery has been invited to deliver the benediction. Rev. Lowery is a venerable and highly respected Civil Rights veteran, a retired pastor and past president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (founded by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) as well as a progressive clergyman.

The crops failed, and there was no food anywhere in the land. So Abram and his wife Sarai went to live in Egypt for a while." Genesis 12:10 + Hebrew Bible

All the factors line up here, don't they? Disaster hits the economy. The crops fail. Conditions grow so severe that no food can be found - anywhere - talk about depression!

The father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam starts out broke and on the move, a stranger, an immigrant. He and his wife journey to Egypt looking for options.

You know - work, opportunity, a way to survive, to do better, to find and build a life.

"To be free . . . to walk the good American earth as equal citizens, to live without fear, to enjoy the fruits of our toil, to give our children every opportunity in life - that dream which we have held so long in our hearts is today the destiny that we hold in our hands."

Paul Robeson, 1898 - 1976
Thespian, Human Rights Activist, Athlete

On November 10, 2008, Circuit City, the nation’s second-biggest electronics retailer, filed for bankruptcy. It’s going to have a lot of company in bankruptcy court. More than a dozen U.S. retailers filed for bankruptcy in 2008, including Linens ‘n Things and Sharper Image. Already in 2009, KBtoys.com has followed suit, and more such filings are expected following what may have been the worst holiday-shopping season in 40 years.

What makes Circuit City’s collapse worthy of some special note, however, however, is the fact that this company, en route to its financial meltdown, tried to balance its books at the expense of its workers, a tactic that other companies may yet be tempted to follow, despite Circuit City's evident lack of success.

For the past week I've been reading the news of the military skirmishes between the Israelis and Hamas in the Gaza Strip with a sense of sadness. I have to admit that I am not very knowledgeable about the issues that have lead up to this latest fight between the two, but after the terrorism in Mumbai, both events just seemed tragic reminders of the problems in this world.

My wife had gotten the movie Joyeux Noel from Netflix, and as I watched the film yesterday night, I began to think about the Palestinians and the Israelis and the tragic history that prevents them from living together in peace.

If there is anything we learned from the Holocaust and other genocidal wars, it is that language matters. It can be used to dehumanize the victims of war, and to hide the perpetrators' responsibility. As I listen to Israeli officials speak this week, and to the language coming out of the White House, I have to note that we are being given several messages over and over, and that these messages contribute to a one sided, dehumanizing framework.

“Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope…” (1 Peter 3:15)

I once worked in a school where the assistant principal took her job way too seriously. After she returned from a professional seminar that kept her out of town for a few days, I welcomed her back, then led her to a place near the school where she could see the entire building from end to end. “I want to show you something,” I said. “Take a good look.” Puzzled, she asked me what she was supposed to be noticing. “Well,” I said, “you were gone for three whole days and the school is still standing!” I meant it as a joke, but she did not laugh. Later, someone told me it had been a cruel joke. Maybe—but, then again, maybe not. The power of truth to inflict pain usually has more to do with the receiver than with the giver of the message.

The United States holds the dubious distinction of having the most unequal income distribution of any advanced industrialized nation. While other developed countries face similar challenges from globalization and technological change, none rivals America’s singularly poor record for equitably distributing the benefits and burdens of recent economic shifts.

Not long ago, someone sent me the following synopsis of the book's content. Controversial, no doubt. Worth a careful study because usually this sort of study turns bright lights on subjects we'd just as soon ignore.

While we're all gorging on college football, there's an excellent HBO Sports documentary no fan ought to miss.

Breaking the Huddle: The Integration of College Football tells the story of what it took to make the college game something all of us enjoy today. HBO does an excellent job of helping the viewer understand the intersection of the Civil Rights Movement with the sport.

I started watching football around 1969-70, after the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Vikings in the Super Bowl. It was a very long time, however, before I watched college football. Mainly because there just weren't a lot of players with whom I could identify (even then, it wasn't like there the pro game was overflowing with black players, but there were more). Good reason - the college game wasn't really integrated until the '70's!

As supporters of gays rights become more galvanized by the passage of Proposition 8, I thought it would be good to list several gays rights organizations that people may think of joining. Since conservative Evangelicals, Catholics and Mormons were especially prominent in supporting Proposition 8, I tried to find organizations that would help out Evangelicals, Catholics and Mormons who were either gay, lesbian or supported gay rights and perhaps help them speak out.

This is only a short list. If you know of an organization that I did not list that you support and wish to be known, please feel free to let us know the name and website of the organization. It would be especially appreciated to know of any Mormon groups that would cater to Mormons who are gay, lesbian or are gay rights supporters.

GLAAD is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair and accurate representation of gays and lesbians the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and bad stereotypes. In their webpage is a great link to LGBT organizations that could be found in your local area.

Star Parker is the founder and president of an organization called CURE, the Coalition for Urban Renewal and Education. She is conservative, she is a born again evangelical and she is African-American. She's a single mother, a former welfare recipient who overcame poverty, got a college education and believes that liberal social policy keeps poor people and minorities locked in conditions of dependency serving as impediments to personal responsibility and initiative. She believes that the free market system is also obstructed by legislation promoted by the left, and if left to its own the market will 'self-correct'.

I've seen Star Parker a few times on television and have never been persuaded by her arguments. I am particularly unconvinced by her recent column in the Dallas Morning News, "How Do Dems Connect with Black America?".

I've been on vacation for the past week in Florida where I was surfing and for the first time in my quarter-century life I was able to go to Disney World and be a kid again with my family.

Between the high speed loops, twists, and drops that are typical with super awesome amusement park rides, there also were rides that tried to teach us a thing or two. Like most on vacation, I snubbed my nose in the air and went looking for another pub at Epcot....

My mom forced us to go on this ride called Living with the Land (official site here) which takes you through a short history of farming and the last half is a future of farming project that Disney partner's with the Department of Agriculture on. Who knew!? I believe the ride itself is within a section called The Land which is sponsored by Nestle ... I might not be remembering that correctly so forgive me.

The first quarter of this final section on the future of ag was the kinds of sustainable agricultural practices that can help green our farming techniques, sequester carbon emissions, certain plants we can plant to better maintain the soils etc... all things I've spoken of before.

"More losses are always possible - particularly when one considers the complexity and lack of regulation in large swaths of the financial industry that poured money into exotic instruments little understood by most of the investing public." - Madlen Read, AP reporter, Dec 28, 2008

Full disclosure: I'm not an economist. If I said, "Glass-Steagall," most of my eight steady readers would think I was cussing - like I do sometimes. Well, maybe I am. I don't know enough to file in a shoe box, but as I see it, our current mess began like a common cold, bothersome but not debilitating. Then it became an epidemic of streptococcal pneumonia - thanks to an unregulated "free market" financial system.