I have a new obsession: sports talk radio. It's my friend Steve's fault. I was listening to ESPN radio the other day and the host (Colin Cowherd) was making the point that the NFL is perfect for the American context and has no fatal flaws unlike other sports. Americans are impatient and need lots of action. If a sport's NOT good on television Americans won't care. The NFL is perfect for the American context and the others have serious problems. Here's why:

(1) The NBA is fatally flawed: the regular season doesn't matter; players don't play hard because of the guaranteed contract structure; nobody watches regular season games.

(2) Major league soccer: P---LEASE. Soccer is horrible for television; Americans aren't interested in a sport with scores like 0-0; 1-0; games are too long;

(3) Major league baseball: BORING; it drags on way too long; horrible for t.v.; young people don't watch or play baseball as much; football has taken center stage;

(4) Hockey: games are too long; horrible for t.v.; only a small minority of people care about the sport; can't be mainstreamed;

(5) College football: the bowl structure is pathetic and makes people disinterested in the college series; the ranking system is random and too subjective.

(6) College basketball: all the best players leave early; by the time you get to know the players and teams they move on to the NBA; why care; what's the point in following college basketball until March Madness?

Is Colin right? He was hilarious in his presentation of the argument.

I argue that college football is the best sport America's got but people that did not graduate from schools with big football programs don't get into college football. It's understandable.

Look, if a sport isn't good for television Americans are not going to be into it. All sports, except football, will have an ever-declining fan base. Again, is Colin right?

Fellas, what do you think? We might get 50 comments on this one!

(Photo: Patrick Riviere/ Getty Images)

From MTV News:

The incident on Sunday afternoon that landed actor Owen Wilson in the hospital was called in to police as a suicide attempt, according to Santa Monica Police Department phone logs.

According to the records, a call was received at 12:08 p.m. on Saturday for an incident listed as "attempt suicide." Wilson remains in stable condition at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills, California, according to spokeswoman Cynthia Harding (see "Owen Wilson 'In Good Condition,' Hospital Says").

"Extra" reports that Wilson's brother Luke found him at his home on Sunday. Since being admitted to the hospital, Wilson reportedly has been visited by other family members, including his brother Andrew.

Why does a 38-year-old man in his position try to commit suicide? Depression. It makes complete sense to me. I'm not surprised at all. Too bad "the stars" don't have people seeking to reaching them. Christians just mostly "hate on" them. How awesome would that be a confidential, behind the scenes, pastor to actors, musicians, etc. I would so easily do that. I just need access.

Lots of guys who are actors, models, musicians, athletes, etc., are in lots of pain and they have no where to go so they turn to the next best thing: self-medication through drugs, drunkeness, women, and suicide. Hector Lavoe's depression killed him eventually. Remember Terrell Owens?

A new study by the British government demonstrates the men in their late 30s and early 40s are most prone to severe depression.

Some guys said this about the study:

This article rings true for me. As I hit 35 or so I'm just not happy and I long for my teenage years.

- Nick, New York, USA

We are miserable in our 30's and 40's because we are married and our wives make us suffer. We're only happy again until we're 65 because thats when we realize we're almost dead.

- Ben Dover, Arlington, VA

Sadly, if you're a depressed guy you have no where to go. Most guys fake it and won't talk about it and women won't get it since depression in men in this age bracket is often distinctively about men's issues.

Thoughts, fellas?

Fellas, you're not going to believe this:

Teens fire 30 rounds in Inman Park home invasion

By MIKE MORRIS The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 08/29/07

Two teenagers are being held without bond on more than a dozen charges each after allegedly shooting up an Inman Park condominium during a weekend home invasion.

Lanoriss Moore, 18, and Tremain Lovelace, 17, were arrested on Sunday after Atlanta police said they burst through the front door of a condo while a couple and four friends were having dinner.

While police said the teens fired 30 rounds into the condo, no one was shot. One person was injured when she fell on her face while escaping the gunfire.

Authorities said the suspects randomly targeted the condo.

What???

"I'm upset with myself, and, you know, through this situation I found Jesus and asked him for forgiveness and turned my life over to God. And I think that's the right thing to do as of right now."--Michael Vick, after pleading guilty to federal dog fighting conspiracy charges.

You can watch the press conference here at CNN.

It was pretty sad to watch. He's not going to shake this one off.

Here are the questions, fellas: should Vick still play in the NFL and if so, should the Falcons release him and who would pick him up?

What's going to happen to Michael Vick?

Fellas, what do you think. Don't hold back. . .

(Hutchins, 16, was one of the almost 128,000 people who attended an Acquire the Fire rally in the last year.)

Editor's note: This is part of a series of reports CNN.com is featuring for "God's Warriors," a documentary hosted by CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

The article reports:

At one point in Jared Hutchins' young life, the Beatles were a big problem. The rallies, which draw mostly teens, are one part concert, one part Christian revival.

"I had to stop listening to them for a while," said Hutchins, who lives in Cumming, Georgia, and plays the piano, guitar and harmonica. He said the group's world view "had a negative effect on me," and made him irritable and angry.

"God owns my life, not the Beatles," he said simply. Although Hutchins said he enjoys a wide range of music -- from Pink Floyd and Arcade Fire to Christian bands such as Hillsong United -- he said he has to be careful of what music he listens to, for the same reason he temporarily turned off the Beatles.

Hutchins, a 16-year-old graced with poise and thoughtfulness, is one of many teenagers who say that some part of popular culture, with its ubiquitous references to sex, drugs and violence, has harmed him.

Last year, Hutchins and his Christian youth group attended an Acquire the Fire rally in Atlanta, Georgia, he said. Acquire the Fire -- regional rallies held across the country -- and BattleCry -- the larger rallies held this year in only three cities -- are the products of the evangelical Christian organization Teen Mania.

Fellas, there are people from the so-called "Reformed" community who claim that their theology is the best at understanding culture, yet, they don't produce the kinds of people who seem to have the gifts and level of influence to pull off events like these "Acquire the Fire" rallies that reached 128,000 last year?

Why is this? Is this Christ against culture approach all bad--i.e., not being "polluted by the world," etc.?

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Embattled U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has resigned, senior administration officials told CNN Monday. President Bush is expected to make a statement about Gonzales at 11:30 a.m. from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he has been vacationing.

Gonzales' aides at the highest level and other top level officials knew nothing about the announcement in advance, Justice Department sources indicated to CNN. They were not informed until a meeting this morning, sources said, when Gonzales acknowldeged he would be reading a statement at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Fellas, the rest is here. This is long overdue in my opinion. His last few years have been a disaster. It's too bad because I think he was in the queue for a supreme court nomination.

History will not treat Bush's second term with much kindness.

Suha, 37, is a mother of three. She says her husband thinks she is cleaning houses when she leaves home.

From CNN:

They have been driven to sell their bodies to put food on the table for their children -- for as little as $8 a day.

"People shouldn't criticize women, or talk badly about them," says 37-year-old Suha as she adjusts the light colored scarf she wears these days to avoid extremists who insist women cover themselves. "They all say we have lost our way, but they never ask why we had to take this path."

A mother of three, she wears light makeup, a gold pendant of Iraq around her neck, and an unexpected air of elegance about her.

"I don't have money to take my kid to the doctor. I have to do anything that I can to preserve my child, because I am a mother," she says, explaining why she prostitutes herself.

Anger and frustration rise in her voice as she speaks.

"No matter what else I may be, no matter how off the path I may be, I am a mother!"

Fellas, this is so sad. Iraq's an absolute mess. I just can't imagine someone who's a mother of children doing something like this.

(Jerry Rivera sings about Puerto Rico)

Fellas, many of know that I've been looking any evangelicals doing work on the island of Puerto Rico since 2000 when I went there for the first time. Just to get close, many of you will remember that I came close, several years ago, to moving to either Miami or Guatemala as well.

Well fellas, on Wednesday, my 7-year search came to an end. Briarwood Presbyterian Church has launched a major work in Puerto Rico. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. Finally, somebody cares about the island that means so much to the world. I have not been able figure out why it seems that evangelicals are completely disinterested in the Island. I don't have to ask the question anymore!

The new work is called:International Leadership Development Program, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The International Leadership Development Project (I.L.D.P.) is a training program that offers opportunities to grow via hands-on experience in a cross-cultural setting. It is a program committed to training those individuals who feel called to the mission field by strategically inserting them into a greenhouse environment as a catalyst for rapid yet enduring growth.

When I started looking in 2000 I couldn't find a major missions organization that was doing a thing on the island. I even contacted one major missions agency (that shall remain nameless) and they were completely disinterested (you see, Puerto Rico's not Mexico).

Hey, any church doing work in Puerto Rico is a friend of mine. Seven years. . .finalmente

Es posible que en el futuro mi vida sere muy differente.

(Amigos y hermanos, Jose, Juan, Pablo, y otros hablaremos pronto)

I just hope I can still move like the guy in the white suit when I'm his age (around minute 3:57).

Sabroso!!

He was 29 and nearly had his head severed while riding his 4-wheeler. He still died, however. Last night, I was at, what can now only be called, "my new spot." For reasons I can't explain, my server was totally open to me asking her all kinds of questions. I'll call her "Susan."

The egg plant soup was amazing, by the way.

Last April, her brother (I'll call him Jason) was riding his 4-wheeler late at night and, unbeknownst to him, an annoyed neighbor had erected BARBED WIRE on the trail to keep Jason from riding at night (he had done this before several times). Well, instead of the barbed wire simply knocking Jason off of his vehicle, the wire made contact with his chest, at 20mph or so, ran up his chest, and snapped his neck. The next morning his cousin found him dead on the trail.

Susan's fidgety at this point. She grabs a cigarette. Susan then started telling me that this has made her mom almost go nuts. I sat there, nearly balling, and then I realized that her family has little money, can't afford a lawyer, and it's likely that no one will pay for this crime.

Susan says that she deals with this by smoking a lot of pot. She doesn't get drunk because that's too depressing she said. "I need something to make me happy," she said. I just nodded my head confirming that I understood. I guess I was suppose to tell her that she is going to "burn in hell" if she doesn't stop smoking pot to medicate her pain and I forgot to tell her that she's gonna "burn in hell" if she doesn't become a Presbyterian and hate N.T. Wright and arminians and vote Republican. Oops. I suck at evangelism.

Then walks in Travis (not his real name) with a couple of the "regulars." After 45 minutes or so of Susan telling me more about her life (and her 14 and 11-year-old children with no father in the picture), Travis walks over to where I am and invites himself to sit right next to me.

At this point, I thinking "dude, don't come over here. I'm a conservative evangelical Christian. I'm not suppose to talk to strangers, especially if they're non-Christians."

From (CNN) --

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has accepted a plea deal that could send him to prison, ending a federal dogfighting prosecution that jeopardizes his pro football career, his lawyers said.

Vick will plead guilty to felony conspiracy next Monday, defense attorney Lawrence Woodward told the Virginian-Pilot, of Norfolk, Virginia. A status conference on the case is set for 3 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Virginia.

The U.S. Attorney's office had no comment.

"After consulting with his family over the weekend, Michael Vick asks that I announce today that he has reached an agreement with federal prosecutors regarding the charges pending against him," lead defense attorney Billy Martin said in a statement.

"Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his action and the mistakes he has made. Michael wishes to apologize again to everyone who has been hurt by this matter," Martin's statement said.

Vick's attorneys have been negotiating with federal prosecutors over terms of the deal, which must be approved by the judge. While prosecutors can recommend a sentence, the decision ultimately rests with the judge.

The plea would help Vick avoid additional federal charges. Federal prosecutors had offered a deal recommending an 18- to 36-month prison sentence. Vick's attorneys were trying to reduce that to less than a year, two sources told CNN earlier on Monday.

Aight, fellas, now what? Should the NFL ban him? Should the Falcons get rid him? If I owned the Falcons, I think I'd have to let him go just like any company probably would. I'm certain I'd lose my job. Should Vick?

Thoughts?

Now the the "innocent 'till proven guilty" rhetorical game is over. . .

Story Highlights from CNN:

# Illegal immigrant who stayed in an Illinois church for a year
# Elvira Arellano wanted to avoid separation from her 8-year-old son
# Immigration activists promise protests and vigils to support her
# Anti-illegal immigrant groups say the arrest was long overdue

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- An illegal immigrant who stayed in an Illinois church for a year to avoid separation from her 8-year-old son, a U.S. citizen, was arrested Sunday and was being processed for deportation.

Elvira Arellano and her son Saul attend a press conference at a Chicago church on Wednesday.

Elvira Arellano, who arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday after leaving her sanctuary to campaign for immigration reform, was arrested around 1:30 p.m. outside Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church where she had been speaking to reporters, said the Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto United Methodist, the Chicago, Illinois, church.

Arellano was "being processed for removal to Mexico based upon a deportation order originally issued by a federal immigration judge in 1997," U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a news release.

Immigration activists promised protests and vigils to support her.

"We are sad, but at the same time we are angry," said Javier Rodriguez, a Chicago immigration activist who worked with her. "How dare they arrest this woman?"

Anti-illegal immigrant groups said the arrest was long overdue.

"Just because the woman has gone public and made an issue of the fact that she is defying law doesn't mean the government doesn't have to do its job," said Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors limits on immigration.

I'm not sure what Latinos did to suburbanites but I've heard some of the most outrageously racist comments in those circles lately.

A few thoughts (remembering that suburban evangelicals really, really don't like Mexicans, for the most part, some would say):

1. USC (62) 0-0 1,622
2. LSU (2) 0-0 1,511
3. West Virginia (1) 0-0 1,396
4. Texas 0-0 1,375
5. Michigan 0-0 1,371
6. Florida 0-0 1,276
7. Wisconsin 0-0 1,192
8. Oklahoma 0-0 1,166
9. Virginia Tech 0-0 1,148
10. Louisville 0-0 1,031
11. Ohio State 0-0 876
12. California 0-0 790
13. Georgia 0-0 782
14. UCLA 0-0 605
15. Tennessee 0-0 571
16. Rutgers 0-0 560
17. Penn State 0-0 542
18. Auburn 0-0 519
19. Florida State 0-0 392
20. Nebraska 0-0 377
21. Arkansas 0-0 376
22. TCU 0-0 283
23. Hawaii 0-0 256
24. Boise State 0-0 187
25. Texas A&M 0-0 162

Others Recieving Votes:
Missouri 128, Georgia Tech 94, Boston College 75, Oregon 73, South Carolina 69, Miami (FL) 68, Alabama 66, Oregon State 42, Wake Forest 40, South Florida 28, Arizona State 17, Brigham Young 14, Southern Miss 12, Notre Dame 11, Virginia 7, Clemson 6, Oklahoma State 3, Texas Tech 2, Purdue 1, Houston 1, Kentucky 1, North Carolina State 1.

Fellas, the ACC ain't lookin' that good this year. Other thoughts?

I was speechless and almost "done" when I heard this story this weekend. The conservative ideal of living as far away from brown peoples (blacks, Latinos, other immigrants) as possible is creating another generation of Bible-thumping white supremacists. It's a story about two guys in a very, very well known, very large, suburban evangelical church NORTH of Atlanta. I would love to name the church but phones would start ringing. Some might argue that the "old South" has risen again and its home is conservative evangelicalism--it's the safest place in America to be an outspoken racist.

Fellas, I'm off to go speak at a conference in Connecticut. I'll be back Monday.

It would be hard not to argue that the last generation or so of parents may be the worst parents in US history. Teens in America use drugs and their parents are clueless and/or don't care.

What's most telling is that parents are not trying to figure out WHY their kids are using drugs. Hey parents, drug and alcohol abuse is a red flag for pain. Parents in the church, I've found over the years, are often in serious denial as well.

But, America, when your kid's only value to you is their athletic and academic performance, and how good they make you look, this is what happens.

From the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Teenagers say drug problems at school are getting worse, and parents express doubts about ever making such schools drug free, a new study says.

In a recent survey, 13 percent of teens said they had tried marijuana; 4 percent said they'd used in the past month.

The percentage of teens who say they attend high schools with drug problems has increased from 44 percent to 61 percent since 2002, and the percentage in middle schools has increased from 19 percent to 31 percent, according to the survey to be released Thursday by Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.

Four in five teens in high school told researchers they have witnessed the use, sale or possession of illegal drugs on high school grounds, or seen someone who was drunk or high on campus.

Some 13 percent of teens said they had tried marijuana, and 4 percent said they had used it in the past month. Such survey results are often understated because respondents are hesitant to admit such drug use.

The survey also found:
Don't Miss

* National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse

• About six in 10 parents of teens at schools with a drug problem say they believe the goal of making that school drug free is unrealistic.

• Most parents, 86 percent, say drinking is a big part of the college experience, but only 29 percent think their own teens will do a lot of drinking in college.

• Students who consider themselves popular were more likely to use drugs, drink or smoke than students who do not view themselves as popular.

The survey found 24 percent of teens named drugs as their number one concern, down from 32 percent who listed it as a top concern in 1995.

"It has become such a commonplace experience for teens that their concern about it has come down," said Joseph Califano, the center's chairman and president. We've reached a point now in America's high schools where getting high, getting drunk are so common -- drugs are now imbedded in the high school experience.

"And despair and denial characterize the parents' attitudes," he said.

And keep in mind that drug use rates in the suburbs and rural America are HIGHER than they are in urban areas. So when you think of "teen drug abuse" the picture in your head should be a suburban kid.

BTW, parents who keep their kids in the Christian bubble, if you don't think these stats apply (with slightly lower percentages) at your kid's Christian school your living in a fantasy world.

Why are these rates so high?

Fellas, this is sad. From CNN:

The number of soldiers who committed suicide increased 15 percent from 2005 to 2006, according to an Army report.

The Army plans to release the data publicly on Thursday, CNN learned from Army officials. The numbers have not previously been released, despite repeated CNN requests for data covering the past seven months.

In 2006, 101 soldiers committed suicide, up from 88 in 2005, according to Army statistics. That amounts to 17.3 per 100,000 soldiers in 2006 and 12.8 per 100,000 the previous year.

The Army uses the statistical analysis to account for shifts in its overall size from year to year. The 2006 figure of 101 includes two deaths in which there has not been a final ruling, but officials said they are likely to be ruled suicides.

The Army has concluded the "main indicators" for the 2006 suicides were failed relationships, legal and financial problems and "occupational/operational" issues. The "typical profile" of a soldier who commits suicide is a member of an infantry unit who kills himself with a firearm.

As of June 30, 2007, 44 soldiers had committed suicide, statistics showed. Of those, 17 were deployed away from their home base.

Xavier Pickett, co-founder of Reformed Blacks of America, America's largest association of reformed Blacks in multiple denominations and non-denoms, and soon-to-be graduate of Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, posted an article on the RBA website titled, "Why Whites Ought Not Attend Black Conferences: A Misappropriation of Racial Diversity by Blacks"

In the article, Pickett is making the case that Black Reformed Christians have unique contributions to make and should refrain from simply regurgitating the same formulas and issues expressed in the dominant Eurocentric reformed culture. Pickett also lays the groundwork for thinking through, on what grounds, whites should submit to black leadership (which most blacks in broadly Reformed world don't believe they will ever see). If the dominant Eurocentric culture simply wants black guys who sound like them, what's the point in having blacks around, Pickett argues. Here are a few excerpts:

First, it is important to discuss briefly what ethnic diversity is not. It is not a predominate representation of one racial/ethnic group among another ethnicity. Second, ethnic diversity is not evidenced in merely the acknowledgment of the presence of various ethnicities, but rather ethnic diversity is the acknowledgment of the unique value of various ethnicities. Third, ethnic diversity is not the recapturing of every ethnicity under one roof, but the recognition and maximization of their unique purpose and gift under any roof.

Whites submitting to Black leadership should on a significant level entail submitting to original and creative contributions of Blacks to everyone's life and ministry.

If Black (Reformed) folks do not have any unique contribution to make to the theological enterprise as opposed to just adding a little bit of “Black spice” (usually through “Black” worship) on top of a "dull" dish of white theology/praxis, then I would not want to submit to Black leadership either, if I were a White person.

Why should TG4, Ligonier, or Desiring God, for instance, invite Black (Reformed) speakers if the Black speakers are just going to parrot what Whites have already been saying? For example, why should Ligonier invite a Black speaker to talk about the holiness of God when they already have R.C. Sproul teaching about God’s holiness better than most folks out there?

Disclaimer: The views expressed above do not necessarily reflect those of Anthony Bradley and/or any of the affiliated organizations or institutions that give Anthony money. Please place all calls to Xavier directly not to any of the institutions with whom I am affiliated if you strongly object to the content.

The Kremlin (Vladimir V. Putin) has created national youth groups to indoctrinate Russian nationalism into teenagers. Fellas, you gotta watch the video at the New York Times. The organization is called Nashi. We are talking about thousands of teens and young adults from all over Russia. Some of the Nashi summer camp photos looks like it could easily be a Young Life summer camp or something.

The youth groups are anti-American, pro-Lenin, etc.., and seems to have picked up some techniques from evangelical youth camps and conferences. It scary to watch. Watch the video (middle left of the page). You can read about the "Nashi Manifesto" here." From the New York Times:

To Nashi, young people are neither the lost generation of the turbulent 1990s nor the soulless consumerists of Generation P (for Pepsi) imagined by the writer Viktor Pelevin in 2000. They are, as Nashi’s own glossy literature says, “Putin’s Generation.” “Why Putin’s generation?” Nashi’s national spokeswoman, Anastasia Suslova, asked at the group’s headquarters. “It is because Putin has qualitatively changed Russia. He brought stability and the opportunity for modernization and development of the country. Thus we, the young people — myself, for instance, I am 22, and these eight years were the longest part of my conscious life when we were growing up, and the country was changing with us.”

Nashi emerged in the wake of youth-led protests that toppled sclerotic governments in other post-Soviet republics, especially in Ukraine in 2004. It was joined by similar groups, like the Youth Guard, which belongs to the pro-Putin party United Russia; Locals, a group created by the Moscow region government that recently launched an anti-immigrant campaign; and the Grigorevtsy, affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Wow. Thoughts? Why is this happening?

Carl Rove resigns. Read the full story at the New York Times.

Thoughts? Reactions?

I wonder if he'll have his own encyclopedia entry one day? Will he even be remembered?

Today, I'm sending an e-mail to the President to volunteer my services. Bush needs some advice. Initially, I would advise to cancel any official business that interferes with him being able to watch college football.

NEW UPDATE(11:11am, est) Mattel just recalled 9 million toys. Read about it here.

From CNN

BEIJING, China (AP) -- The head of a Chinese manufacturer whose lead-tainted Sesame Street toys were the center of a massive U.S. recall has killed himself, a state-run newspaper said Monday.

Two toys of the same kind recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Cheung Shu-hung, who co-owned Lee Der Industrial Co., committed suicide at a warehouse over the weekend, apparently by hanging himself, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

"When I rushed there around 5 p.m., police had already sealed off the area," the newspaper quoted a manager surnamed Liu as saying. "I saw that our boss had two deep marks in his neck."

Though the report did not give a reason for Cheung's apparent suicide -- and the company declined to discuss the matter -- Lee Der was under pressure in a global controversy over the safety of Chinese made products. It is common for disgraced officials to commit suicide in China.

This month, Mattel Inc., one of the largest U.S. toy companies, was forced to recall 967,000 plastic preschool toys made by Lee Der because they were decorated with paint found to have excessive amounts of lead. The toys, sold in the U.S. under the Fisher-Price brand, included likenesses of Big Bird and Elmo, as well as the Dora and Diego characters.

I wonder if the Chinese government had made plans to execute this guy like they did the official who took bribes and allowed tainted medicine to be exported to the US? This is wild.

Over the weekend I saw "El Cantanta" the movie about the life of Hector Lavoe. The above video is the song "El Cantante."

Lavoe's life was so painful and tragic. His mom died when he was five, his brother died a few years later, he left Puerto Rico against his father's wishes and it estranged them, he started using drugs to medicate his pain (weed, coke, heroine, etc.) and had a permanent addiction, got AIDS from shootin' up, his ONLY son died in a shooting accident, he had a nervous breakdown, he jumped off of balcony in a suicide attempt, and died alone.

Why is that the people who live through the most pain are the ones who make some of the greatest contributions? Some of the best preachers I know have deep, deep personal wounds.

When men don't have a venue to process and heal their pain it leads to self-destruction.

From Metropolis Magazine (the best mag in the whole wide world):

Cloepfil is an elementalist in an architecture culture in which image is king. With the opening of the Seattle Art Museum in May; the Museum of Arts & Design, on Columbus Circle in New York, next year; and ambitious projects in Michigan, Denver, Dallas, and Glendale, California, coming down the pike, Cloepfil is emerging as a leading American architect of a new type: not a showman or a theorist, not a regionalist or a corporate architect at the helm of a large firm, but a sort of high-art boutique practitioner (meaning he chooses projects carefully) with a burgeoning reputation for powerful, if subtle, buildings.

Sometimes very subtle. Now that the term starchitecture has settled in (as both compliment and swipe) to describe a certain ambition, it remains to be seen whether clients and critics have the stomach for showpiece buildings that don’t fully show up in photographs—for Cloepfil’s kind of build­­ings. But he doesn’t pretend to care. His inventiveness is never about reinvention. Instead, he draws on a deeper font. “One of the things architecture does is communicate in an iconic way,” he explained, back at his studio. “That’s where architecture begins. It just picks up the conversation that’s been going on forever. And that gives me strength because I don’t have to make the new icon. All I’ve got to do is serve architecture.”

Fellas, you gotta go here and see the stuff this guy is designing. Impressive.

Around 25 percent of Americans 25-years-old and older have college degrees according to the US Census.

Translation: nearly 75% of adult Americans over 25 DO NOT graduate from college.

So, I know this guy around my age (I'll call him "Miguel") who's on his way out of conservative evangelicalism, in part, because of its conflating American middle-class values with Christianity. Below would be a typical rant by Miguel:

"There are some churches and ministries who are only concerned about the college-educated world. Why are college people so special? Does Jesus love college educated more?

Why would a church actually brag that it is reaching "the intellectuals," "the professionals," etc? Is that actually good? I'm not saying that the college educated world does not need to be reached (all groups do) but to brag, and be content with college educated ghetto, would be like bragging that you do evangelism at huge rock concerts but only focus on the "event staff"--you know all those folks with light-blue t-shirts who have the same name on the back of their shirt, "staff." Must be a big family.

If your church is mostly made of college grads (and their children) your church is NOT reaching the majority of American culture. What does that mean? Should this be embarrassing? Why would Christians only want to be around college grads? Why would you only want to pursue college educated or educating people?"

Is Miguel on to something here? Every time I talk about this stuff with churchy youth they are always surprised that most Americans do not graduate from college. Why is this a surprise to them? What is about their lives that they never engage non-college educated people?

Here's why I'm guessing Miguel is so frustrated: some would have argued that conservative evangelicals have one mission in life and that is to preserve and maintain middle-class, monolithic culture even using the Bible to do it. This has nothing to do with race, by the way (blacks avoid "ghetto" blacks, whites hate "white trash," etc). Many evangelical parents I've worked with over the years are more concerned about their kids' adopting middle-class American values than cultivating a love and following of Jesus.

Miguel, I think, does expose something odd. I actually do know Christians whose lives never engage the 75% socially and whose churches DO NOT hardly have any of the 75% in them at all(unless they are cleaning the place), and they don't even care. Or, even worse, they don't even notice. How could it not be odd to a person that every one in that person's church is basically the same demographic (by class), in a country that is a diverse as ours?

Miguel might ask, "Why would anybody actually want to live a life where they were always around people who were "just like us" (whatever "us" is according to your shire or preference--by race, class, music style, etc.)?" Why would you want your kids to only play with "kids from families like ours?"

So, I'm out to prove Miguel wrong. Does anyone know of any organizations, associations, denominations, para-church organizations, etc. that cares about 75% and/or has some expertise at reaching them? Resources would be very helpful. Off the top of my head it seems that Catholics, Methodists, Mennonites, and Baptists have been successful in recent centuries, respectively. Whose doing the best work today?

Whoever reaches the 75% changes the country because the 75% create the market demand for most of our mainstream, non-specialty item goods and services.

This is a sad story.

These kids are ruined. Read about it here.

There is absolutely no reason to have foster care in America. No, not even one.

"Pro-life?" Yeeeeaaaah, right.

While I was in Atlanta last weekend I watch the Fox 5 News program and they aired their Wednesday profile of local foster kids. I nearly kicked the television, after some serious water works, when I saw that John, 14 [AND A CHRISTIAN] has been in foster care for several years. The kid even started kind'a preaching on the video.

Several years in foster care??? What? James 1:27 makes it pretty clear, doesn't it? Then I realized this: maybe Atlanta does not have any Christians anywhere in the whole metro area.

If there are Christians in Atlanta why are there kids in foster care there? Is there something about Christianity in Atlanta that we don't know about?

Here is John's profile:

John, born 11/92, is a friendly White child who is eager to please others. Drawing is one of John’s favorite activities and he is quite good at it. Playing with miniature airplanes and military figures also interests him. Compliments really make John smile though he doesn’t always believe them. John qualifies for the gifted program at school but his inability to focus for long prevents him from being able to attend. Therapy and medication are being utilized to help him. Playing the trumpet in the school band is a boost to John’s self-esteem.

He tends to be a loner and could use a positive role model to help him improve his socialization skills. Special classes are in place to help John stay on task. The family who adopts John will need to realize he has had many disappointments in his life. He probably will not be quick to trust the permanence or love of a new family. A family who can get past John’s hesitation to easily accept a new family and wait for his trust will get a bright and loving son.

You can watch a video of John here.

What???????? I just saw this on the Fox 5 website. Just the week before, 7/25/07, ANOTHER church-going kid is profiled. Atlanta, come on! What are Atlanta "Christians" up to? Let me guess: going to college, building houses in the SUBURBS with empty bedrooms, having 2 kids, and buying lots of toys (not that those things, in-and-of-themselves, are bad). But the American evangelical lifestyle is pretty safe, comfortable, and pathetic some would say.

Here's Lennord's video.

Atlanta, what will happen to Lennord when he turns 18? He will get kicked out of foster care and will be ON HIS OWN to fend for himself. Keep this in mind the next time you're "at the lake."

AAAHHHHHH!!!!!! I just found another church-going kid. This kid's so involved at his church that he serves as an usher and plays the drums sometimes. WHY is he in foster care? His name is Junquade, he's 10.

Here's his profile.

Why does foster care exist in the United States if there are Christians here. America has around 115,000 kids in foster care, 225 million "Christians," and over 60 million evangelicals.

I'm sure Atlanta's not the only city with Christians that have Bibles missing James 1:27.

If you want to see a depressing display of orphans check out the "Wednesday's Child" website. The orphans aren't depressing, the fact that they are orphans is pretty sad with Christians as wealthy as we have here in the US?

Why don't Christians adopt orphans? Why do they only want infants (if they oddly don't want to adopt kids at all). I don't get it? Why are there Christian families that don't adopt kids?

The so-called "evangelical" Christians, alone, could end foster care tomorrow if they wanted to. Kingdom, blah, blah, blah. Roman Catholics have such a good history of taking care of orphans. It's just impressive.

It's too bad that kids in foster care aren't SUVs, suburban homes (away from all the "bad people"), college degrees, theology books, golden retrievers, against all things "Democrat," infants, the "abortion issue," and so on.

By the way, James 1:27 applies equally to church-going and non-church-going kids alike. It's just that John's profile made me irate because, it seems, that Christians struggle to even take in Christian orphans. And I'm not saying that EVERY Christian family MUST adopt orphans but this is the church's responsibility to find people who are willing and able.

If you don't want the orphans who are in the church on Sunday, then I wouldn't expect that Christians would be interested in the others.

What's up Atlanta (or insert the city you're in)?

This is what the Economist Magazine reports:

The bloodiest election campaign in the country's history

Guatemalans are preparing to choose a new president on September 9th, in a climate marred by an increase in politically motivated violence. Despite a large field of candidates, a clear frontrunner has emerged, though he is unlikely to benefit from a legislative majority. The next government will face myriad challenges, but none will be more critical than addressing violent and organised crime, which is said to be increasingly infiltrating the political system itself.

According to human-rights and election monitors, this has been the bloodiest campaign period in Guatemala’s history. From March 2006 to date there have been an estimated 26-36 political murders of candidates and political activists. The victims hail from every political party, and include seven congressmen and other contenders for elected offices.

Difficult legacy

Guatemala is no newcomer to violence. The country was governed for three decades by repressive military regimes until it returned to democratic rule in 1985. It also suffered through 36 years of civil war, before peace was formally negotiated in 1996. That war pitted leftist insurgents against the US-supported military governments, and led to the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians.

Even after democracy and elections were restored, political violence continued. More recently it has been accompanied by attacks perpetrated by drug traffickers, street gangs, rogue soldiers and smugglers. The murder rate stands at around 6,000 per year, in a country of 14 [million] inhabitants.

Indeed, many of the attacks this year are attributed to organised criminals intent on influencing elections and thereby gaining clout within the political system, at the local and national levels. Guatemala, like some of its Central American and Caribbean neighbours, has become a major transit route for the narcotics trade. Drug traffickers are said to be financing some campaigns, and to have already had considerable success in placing their supporters in various elected political posts. Addressing this problem, along with that of public security in general, will be among the biggest challenges facing the next president.

Fellas, I wish I was down there and there was something I could do. Some of my best friends are Guatemalans and I literally almost moved there 3 years ago to take a teaching job (stinking school loans). Pray for them.

Friends, I'm curious about what people are thinking about the next election.

Here's the question: Is the '08 presidential race the democrat's race to loose? In other words, do the republicans even have a chance?

Anthony's thoughts: Ok. I'm not sure why Republicans are running at all. They're not going to win the next presidential election. I think all the conservative Christians may want to consider joining the Democratic party for this next election to influence the outcome on that end.

If you're one of those people hoping for a Republican president in '08, barring something really bizarre, it's not going to happen. Why waste the money?

Thoughts? Please explain as well.

From the Seattle Times

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Two Rider University officials, including the dean of students, and three students were indicted Friday in the death of a freshman after a drinking binge at a campus fraternity house.

The school dissolved the Phi Kappa Tau chapter Friday, and authorities said the aggravated hazing charges should send a message to students and administrators alike.

"The standards of college life, when it relates to alcohol, need to be policed carefully," prosecutor Joseph Bocchini Jr. said.

Gary DeVercelly Jr., of Long Beach, Calif., had a blood-alcohol level of 0.426 percent, more than five times New Jersey's legal limit for driving, when he was pronounced dead March 30 at a Trenton hospital, authorities said. He died the day after drinking at the Phi Kappa Tau house on the private school's campus in central New Jersey.

Most of you won't like this 'cause many of you believe that college students are kids but the university is no way responsible for this horrible death: the college students are.

Charging the Dean of Students and the Director of Greek Life with criminal acts is ridiculous and stupid. The problem, again, is with the pathetic parenting of baby-boomers and the kinds of kids they have raised that arive on college campuses: morally reckless.

If there's one word that would characterize the parenting style of many parents who have raised the last few decades of college students it is "CLUELESS." They were clueless about how the "hands off" approach to morally forming their kids, while pushing the idols of success, have created a generation of high performing adults with NO morality. Sad.

Here's the problem that reveals that this horrible death is the sole responsibility of the college students:

(1) You have college students stupid enough and lacking the MORAL fortitude to discourage others to binge drink. They don't actually care about their "friends." Come on, fellas, if you're paying $500 per semester to buy your "friends" in the first place, because you may have been a loser in high school, you should at least expect that they will actually care about you (I was in a frat in college, I can say this).

(2) You have college students(men?) stupid enough and lacking the MORAL and testicular fortitude to NOT binge drink.

How is this the Dean's fault, that he's been delivered a generation of irresponsible (but academically successful) adults with no morality?

Great job boomers! Thanks again for your parenting style. This will serve our nation well. Thanks also for abandoning the church, that's really worked out well.

And many Christian parents are just as clueless. Many of them are clueless enough to believe that their kids don't sin A LOT! I was doing youth ministry in this one church where the mother of one the most sexually active girls (also a major leader's daughter) in this reformed presbyterian church was not only clueless about her daughter's real life but actually said openly at a parent's meeting that "the church should do more to reach out to kids with problems and use the good kids like hers to reach them " (paraphrase)

College students are not kids. They are full adults and should be treated as such--and expected to live as such. College adminstrators are NOT responsible for the irresponsible and immoral choices of adults that baby boomers have delivered to them.

America, you get what you raise.

Thoughts?

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) --

Five people are confirmed to have died in the Minneapolis, Minnesota, bridge collapse. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office said Friday that four bodies were recovered Wednesday and one was recovered Thursday.

Authorities have said the toll is expected to climb as they piece through wreckage.
The search for bodies in the Mississippi River was painstakingly slow as divers navigated debris and murky water after Wednesday's collapse, officials said.

About 15 divers from local counties did a bank-to-bank search Thursday afternoon and found 11 vehicles, including an 18-wheeler, said Lynn Schwartz, Communication Specialist for the Bridge Collapse Command Center.

Vehicles with bodies inside are being taken out of the river, while empty ones are being marked and left in the water, she said. Officials said at least 79 people were injured.

Dozens of cars are trapped in the rubble or in the river after the eight-lane interstate bridge collapsed during Minneapolis' evening rush hour. Eight people are still missing, said Hennepin County Sheriff Richard Stanek.

I can't imagine what that would have been like to be on that bridge.

XYZ commented below in the "divorce post" and I thought it deserved special attention. This is exactly the kind of thing I've been talking about now for a number of years. Here's what he said:

My parents never divorced; they just lived separate lives under the same roof. But as the older son, I became my mom's surrogate spouse. It took me years to figure out what I had gone through.

I'm 36, am a solid Reformed Christian, have a good job as a big-firm lawyer, and generally enjoy life. But I'm absolutely ruined as far as relationships are concerned. I give time to my church, work a lot, and use my spare time to travel the globe. I don't even bother dating anymore.

At least this brother is aware of it. Lots of guys are clueless about how their moms ruined them (and their wives and girlfriends are making it worse). How will this end? Passive fathers wreak all kinds of havoc on their sons in multiple ways.

"Mothers who struggle to let their sons grow into men are making life hell for the women who marry them. So says writer ROB KEMP, editor-at-large of Fathers Quarterly magazine - and a selfconfessed mummy's boy." Read more here.