I've heard the term morally bankrupt before, often applied to me, but hadn't realized *real* bankrutpcy could happen to real churches.
Then again, if I could pick a "church" to have these sorts of troubles, it would be the one these guys talk about.
RussNews on 11.14.04 @ 10:18 AM PDT [link]
Each year this comes out, based on two year old tax information recently released.
As they say in the Technical Notes, "philanthropic generosity is not just how much one gives, but how much one gives in relation to how much one has-the so-called "widow's mite" phenomenon. As we have said from the outset, the Generosity Index is a "crude but telling" indicator; it is not scientific (e.g., economics, sociology) but it is educational, and specifically for donor education. It tells people roughly where they stand in comparison with their peers in other communities, in the relation between their respective ranks in income and in charitable giving. By doing so it raises the level of public discussions of charitable giving, in ways that are strategically useful."
What surprises and stuns me is that the red states are much more charitable and giving than the blue ones in the Northeast. I have no explanation, only misery. That Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Alambama are the most generous while Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island are the worst goes against everything I've believed.
Damn.
RussNews on 11.10.04 @ 02:03 PM PDT [link]
I was startled to hear that Baylor College had done some more work with magnets, this time apparently successfully. I've long been pretty skeptical about magnetic therapy, but I wish it were true. I guess I never bought into the iron-rich blood thing, never understanding much about hemogoblin and ferrous metals.
Baylor, earlier, had a study that some herald and others yawn over, having to do with magnets and pain. This time, nothing beyond the limits of science is claimed, it seems as if they just use magnets to guide a magnetic needle thing to reach really curvy veins.
Maybe tomorow something beyond the bounds of physics will be found. I can only hope.
RussNews on 11.08.04 @ 12:54 PM PDT [link]
I can't find it on the CDC site, but some brainy expert has determined that the increasingly heavier passengers are costing the airlines hundreds of millions dollars a year in added fuel costs.
That's in addition to the millions of tons of additional pollutants. Plus the annoyance of those passengers who find it ... distasteful to have someone's flab hanging over the seat onto them.
But ... but ... I'm hungry!
RussNews on 11.05.04 @ 10:40 AM PDT [link]
Mt St Helen's continues to bore and disappoint, so tiny Iceland has picked up the gauntlet with what looks to be a winning entry.
And my best to Elizabeth Edwards.
RussNews on 11.04.04 @ 05:42 PM PDT [link]
Does anyone really need host of products I can do without.
RussNews on 11.04.04 @ 08:15 AM PDT [link]
(It's about space, about two people in a foreign place...)
Only it's not. I was just teasing.
What it is about is making CDs and DVDs last a little longer. I remember the promise of indestructability, closely followed by the more-obvious skipping and dropping. Now, clever scientists may have come up with a way to eek a few more years out of our new, digital record-keeping medium.
And I bet you thougth I was going to talk about the election. Cool fact I heard: this is the first time in Gallup's history that the day of their last poll is a tie. Not sure if that's just popular vote or weighed like the Electoral College.
RussNews on 11.01.04 @ 05:26 PM PDT [link]
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