The Institute (協会)

Brad Pitt "Makes It Right" in New Orleans

With his Make It Right project in New Orleans, Pitt may be on his way to becoming architecture’s most important patron. Is architecture up for the challenge?

By Andrew Blum, Metropolis Magazine
Posted March 19, 2008

“So you’re a design junkie too?” Brad Pitt said to me, leaning out the door of an RV parked in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans one evening in December.. . Pitt’s new nonprofit, Make It Right, wants to help them “get a house” by providing the difference between their assets and the cost of rebuilding. The catch was that they had to choose one of the sustainable designs by 13 different architects—an amazing list that included Thom Mayne, David Adjaye, Shigeru Ban, and Kieran Timberlake.

“Our idea was, OK, these people need help rebuilding, so let’s bring in the great minds that we can find. And that was really exciting for me, being the fan that I am,” Pitt said. . .Are you bringing these architects here, I asked, because you enjoy working with them? “That’s one of the benefits certainly, but it’s not the driving factor.” So why do it? Why bring not just architects here but some of the world’s best? “I’ll tell you why,” Pitt said, leaning forward and rubbing his hands together. “Because these people suffered a horrific event, and truthfully great injustice in the aftermath, and they’re still suffering that injustice.

So what are you going to follow that injustice with? Crap houses with toxic materials and appliances that run up their electricity bills and may lead to a foreclosure? I mean, really. This to me is a social-justice issue. And to create something that’s equitable and fair and has respect and provides dignity for the family within is absolutely essential to rebuilding here.”

Since when do movie stars have a better sense of architecture’s possibility than most architects?

I'm totally down with this!! Why not bring sustainable principles to the rebuilding of New Orleans (especially where it's economically viable to do so)? This is pretty cool.

Anybody know of any evangelicals involved in the promoting that sustainable architecture play a role in rebuilding New Orleans? I'd love to connect with those guys.

Chris Rock/Chocolate Bar

I saw Chris Rock "Live" over the weekend. It's his "No Apologies Tour."
Of course, he was hilarious. At one point he said: "George Bush did such a bad job that he's made it hard for a white man to get elected president again. We're so desperate now that we're willing to have a black man or a woman or a giraffe or anything except another white guy."

Afterwards we went and hung out at the Chocolate Bar in "South City" St. Louis. This place is really, really cool. The best chocolate martini's and stuff in world!!

Anthony Bradley On CNN/Headline News With Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck's awesome. I had a ton of fun doing this! Watch here and you can hear my perspective on Obama's pastor. I was honored to be on the show and on CNN.

Robin Williams Divorcing After 19 Years?? Does Anyone Stay Married

From CNN:

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- After nearly 19 years of marriage, Robin Williams and his wife are getting divorced. Robin Williams and Marsha Garces Williams have two children together.

Marsha Garces Williams filed a petition for dissolution of marriage on March 21 in San Francisco Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences. The two met when Garces Williams worked as a nanny for Williams' son Zachary, whom he had with his previous wife, Valerie Valardi.

Robin and Garces Williams also have two children together, Zelda and Cody. Williams' agent Mara Buxbaum confirmed that the couple is splitting, but had no further comment. An attorney for his estranged wife would not comment on the case.

After 19 years?? I was recently at a restaurant listening to a couple of guys in their early 30s talking about their parent's RECENT divorce. Yeah, divorce after 35 years of marriage. They were devastated. One guy said now that he had no confidence that his own young marriage is going to make it.

Marriage is dead in America, folks. I would not be surprised if kids today have absolutely no confidence in the institution of marriage. They're immersed in divorce. Sadly, we can't even point to the church for an alternative vision in practice. And none of this people empty rhetoric of "just need to hear blah, blah." Or, even more worse empty rhetoric "people just need to believe blah, blah." P--LEASE. Preaching does not prevent divorce. As one divorce recovery expert put it, "pain trumps theology." This is a fact.

At 19-years-old, Man Microwaves 2-Month-Old Daughter

From CNN:

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -- Jurors who rejected a young father's claim that he was insane when he burned his infant daughter in a microwave must now decide his punishment. Prosecutors are asking that Joshua Mauldin be sentenced to life in prison for stuffing his daughter Ana in a microwave and turning it on for 10 to 20 seconds. His defense attorney asked for probation so his client could continue receiving psychiatric treatment.

Jurors deliberated Mauldin's punishment for 2½ hours Tuesday without a decision. They were set to resume working on Wednesday. Earlier Tuesday, the jury convicted Mauldin, 20, of felony injury to a child, dismissing his claim he was having a psychotic episode when he put his then 2-month-old daughter in a Galveston hotel microwave in May 2007.

Mauldin had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. The conviction came after about four hours of deliberations, which began Monday afternoon. Galveston County Prosecutor Xochitl Vandiver asked jurors to give Mauldin a life sentence because Mauldin had given his daughter a life sentence as well -- one of physical and emotional scars.

Mauldin at first told police his daughter had been severely sunburned, later changing his story and saying he had accidentally spilled hot water on her while making coffee. Ana suffered second- and third-degree burns to her left ear, cheek, hand and shoulder and required two skin grafts after being in the microwave. Part of her left ear had to be amputated.

"She will always for the rest of her life be reminded just by looking in a mirror," Vandiver said. Prosecutors said Mauldin was angry that he was in a loveless marriage and took it out on his daughter. Just before putting her in the microwave, Mauldin had punched the baby and put her in the hotel-room safe and refrigerator.

Ok, Mauldin was mad at his wife so he took it out on the daughter? What? How is it the daughter's fault that the wife didn't love him?

Crazy, fellas, crazy!!

Here's the twist guys, THE WIFE, wants him out of jail so that they can be a family again. THE WIFE said that he did it because he was under "demonic possession" (which actually might be true) and, according to Nancy Grace(CNN), Mauldin was planning on being a pastor someday.

Guys, thoughts?

Here's this sick story on YouTube:

The Lost YouTube Video For Obama's Church

Ahh, Rufus, how come nobody seems to be commenting about this side of Obama's church?

Hmm. . .

"Christ, Community, Culture"

In Guatemala, See Ya Next Week

Friends, I'll blog again next Tuesday (March 25th-ish). Thanks to frequent flyer miles, I'm flying to Guatemala City to hang with my other family. Some of you will remember that I almost moved down there 3 years ago. I absolutely love that place and my friends down there. See ya soon.

3 Teen Suicides At NANTUCKET HIGH!!

Nantuckett Football

From the New York Times:

NANTUCKET, Mass. — If the three deaths were connected, no one on the island could say exactly how. The first, a 15-year-old, killed himself at his home near the high school in February 2007. The second, a 17-year-old ‘A’ student and an athlete, committed suicide last October.

The third, a 16-year-old found dead at home in January, may have been an accidental death, not a suicide. None had been good friends.

Yet they were all islanders, talented and well-liked students in a high school of 400 that had not had a suicide for more than 40 years.

Fellas, I don't know what's up here but I wonder if it has something to do with Dr. Levine's thesis about the kids of affluence.

The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids by Madeline Levine.

What's up with this?

Newly Installed New York Governor Sworn In, Then Admits Affairs

The New York governor admits to his own extra-marital liaisons for years right after he was sworn in as the governor of New York.

New York, come on people, get it together.

from the New York Daily News:

The thunderous applause was still ringing in his ears when the state's new governor, David Paterson, told the Daily News that he and his wife had extramarital affairs. In a stunning revelation, both Paterson, 53, and his wife, Michelle, 46, acknowledged in a joint interview they each had intimate relationships with others during a rocky period in their marriage several years ago.

In the course of several interviews in the past few days, Paterson said he maintained a relationship for two or three years with "a woman other than my wife," beginning in 1999.

As part of that relationship, Paterson said, he and the other woman sometimes stayed at an upper West Side hotel — the Days Inn at Broadway and W. 94th St. He said members of his Albany legislative staff often used the same hotel when they visit the city.

"This was a marriage that appeared to be going sour at one point," Paterson conceded in his first interview Saturday. "But I went to counseling and we decided we wanted to make it work. Michelle is well aware of what went on."

Well, at least he admitted it and he and his wife got help. But, whew, what's up with this generation? Does everybody cheat?

A "Heads Up" Would Have Been Nice

Same story. Different city. Any guesses on what I'm talking about here? I should write a book about this!

Tiger: I Don't Know What to Say

(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack; Tiger Woods celebrates after sinking a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Fla.)

From ESPN:

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Tiger Woods studied his 25-foot birdie putt from every angle, convincing himself he could make it to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational because he had a similar putt in the same situation seven years ago at Bay Hill.

Tiger Woods celebrates after sinking a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Fla.
He wasn't alone in his thinking.

Palmer stood behind the 18th green in his pink shirt and blue blazer, waiting to hand him the trophy. The King was joined by an army of fans who squinted into the late afternoon sun, all expecting Woods to continue a winning streak that began in September.

And then there was Bart Bryant, who challenged Woods over the final two hours, but now sat in the scoring trailer and listened.

"I heard a big cheer, and I got up and left," Bryant said. "That's why he's Tiger Woods."

How does he keep doing this? I don't even know what to say. I mean. . .

Wright Under Unfair Attack

Wright's church lashes back at media for their portrayal of Wright.

(CNN) -- The Rev. Jeremiah Wright's former church criticized the news media Sunday for coverage of his sermons, saying in a statement that Wright's "character is being assassinated in the public sphere."

Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois, defended Wright, saying he "has preached a social gospel on behalf of oppressed women, children and men in America and around the globe."

The statement came two days after Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, a longtime friend of Wright and attendee of the church, denounced sermons that have become the subject of recent controversy. Obama called them "inflammatory and appalling."

"It is an indictment on Dr. Wright's ministerial legacy to present his global ministry within a 15- or 30-second sound bite," the Rev. Otis Moss III, the current pastor of the church, said in the statement.

Also, the article noted:

"The African-American Church was born out of the crucible of slavery, and the legacy of prophetic African-American preachers since slavery has been and continues to heal broken, marginalized victims of social and economic injustices," Moss added.

"This is an attack on the legacy of the African-American Church, which led and continues to lead the fight for human rights in America and around the world."

Well, I do kind'a have to agree with the spirit of Trinity's response. To take a 3-minute sound bite and project that onto the whole church and to Obama is unwarranted. While one might not agree with Wright (and rightly so for many reasons) is it right (haha) to treat both him and Obama the way the media has?

Hmmm, well the religious left is finally getting a taste of the treatment the religious right gets all the time: sound-bitten caricatures!

"Hillary A'int Never Been Called A N!gg$r", Says Pastor Jermiah Wright

Wow.

Fellas, Obama's pastor (Dr. Jeremiah Wright) went off about Hillary's inability to relate to black people and even understand the gospel because Jesus connects to those who understand what it means to live in a world run and dominated "by rich white people."

Seriously, y'all watch this and let me know what stirs up.

1 in 4 Teen Girls Have An STD

(From some CW show called "Gossip Girl" which depicts high school life in a private school setting).

Guys, call your little brothers and give them yet another reason pursue God's design for their sexuality. Not only is messing around not God's best for them, it's extremely dangerous. That's a lot of girls with STDs. Wow.

From CNN:

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) --

At least one in four teenage girls nationwide has a sexually transmitted disease, or more than 3 million teens, according to the first study of its kind in this age group.

A virus that causes cervical cancer is by far the most common sexually transmitted infection in teen girls aged 14 to 19, while the highest overall prevalence is among black girls -- nearly half the blacks studied had at least one STD. That rate compared with 20 percent among both whites and Mexican-American teens, the study from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

About half of the girls acknowledged having sex; among them, the rate was 40 percent. While some teens define sex as only intercourse, other types of intimate behavior including oral sex can spread some infections.

For many, the numbers most likely seem "overwhelming because you're talking about nearly half of the sexually experienced teens at any one time having evidence of an STD," said Dr. Margaret Blythe, an adolescent medicine specialist at Indiana University School of Medicine and head of the American Academy of Pediatrics' committee on adolescence.

Thoughts??

Of Course Spizter Should Resign, But Should His Wife?

Sorry guys, you know the story: New York's governor is exposed as being a part of a high-end prostitution ring and people are speculating if he will resign.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Before Monday, Eliot Spitzer was a rising star in the Democratic Party -- his squeaky-clean image as a corruption buster led to his being mentioned as a potential vice-presidential candidate and possibly even a future White House contender. Now, after federal investigators have linked the New York governor to a top-dollar prostitution ring, political advisers are split over whether Spitzer has any political future at all.

"There's no way he can survive it," said Ed Rollins, a Republican political consultant and adviser to former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. "All the facts aren't out there, but as they're being reported, there's no way you can survive.

"Not only is he a hypocrite, he may also end up being a charged felon."

On Monday, Spitzer publicly apologized for an undisclosed personal matter. He did not specifically mention the prostitution sting, nor did he resign.

OF COURSE, he's going to resign, America!! Duh!! Why are we even speculating? I'm sure he's already started packing.

I am most curious, however, about his wife. She stood up there with him while he confessed this to the world. Questions: how was she able to do that? Do women have some kind of special gift that allow them to stand by their husbands in the midst of a huge moral failure like that? I don't understand this?

I think another question is: will his wife and kids resign?

Thread's open y'all, sound off at will:

20 Worst Foods In America From Men's Health

(Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing)

Guys, don't be fooled. Restaurants pile on the calories in not so obvious ways and the next thing you know you and Peter Griffin have the same gut. Men's Health Magazine gives an awesome list of the America's 20 worst foods.

From the magazine:

Sure, a turkey burger sounds healthy. But is it, really? Not if you order the Bella from Ruby Tuesday, which packs a whopping 1,145 calories. (And yes, that's before a side of fries.)

To further enlighten you on the prevalence of preposterous portions, we spent months analyzing menus, nutrition labels, and ingredient lists to identify the food industry's worst offenders. Our primary criterion? Sheer caloric impact. After all, it's the top cause of weight gain and the health problems that accompany it. (As you read, keep in mind that 2,500 calories a day is a reasonable intake for the average guy.) We also factored in other key nutritional data, such as excessive carbohydrates and fat, added sugars, trans fats, and sodium. The result is our first annual list of the worst foods in America.

Go here to the website and click each numbered category on the left. Here are the top five.

(1) Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing--2,900 calories, 182 g fat; 240 g carbs

Even if you split this "starter" with three friends, you'll have downed a dinner's worth of calories before your entree arrives. Follow this up with a steak, sides, and a dessert and you could easily break the 3,500 calorie barrier.

Instead: Start your meal with a protein-based dish that's not deep-fried. A high-protein starter helps diminish hunger without putting you into calorie overload. At Outback, that translates to either the Seared Ahi or the Shrimp on the Barbie.

(2) Chili's Awesome Blossom--2,710 calories; 203 g fat; 194 g carbs; 6,360 mg sodium

(3) On the Border Stacked Border Nachos--2,740 calories; 166 g; fat 191 g carbs; 5,280 mg sodium

(4) Macaroni Grill Spaghetti and Meatballs with Meat Sauce--2,430 calories; 128 g fat; 207 g carbs; 5,290 mg sodium

(5) Uno Chicago Grill Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza--2,310 calories; 162 g fat; 123 g carbs; 4,470 mg sodium

There's more. . . The list also has the worst salads, soft drinks, sandwiches, etc.

I think I'm gonna get sick.

The average guy gains 1 pound a year after age of 25. Getting "seconds" and eating big dinners sure does help?

Thoughts, guys? What's the moral of the story?

Are You Ready For Some Football??

Yes, yes, yes!!!!!!!! Guys, I'm dying. I hate basketball season. It's soooo boring. The NBA should just wait until the playoffs to be televised and college basketball doesn't get awesome till "March Madness." I know, I know--I just need to hang in there a couple more weeks till the tourny, but man, I'm dying without football.

Football just makes ya feel good. Don't it?

Fellas, What are y'all reading these days? Non-Theology Only Please

Homies, what non-theology-related books are y'all reading?

Please indicate Fiction(F) or Non-Fiction (NF)!!

Condemned To School Loan Purgatory

Over at World Magazine, I discuss the unwise move to loan ones way through college and graduate school.

Attend college at your own financial risk. Skipping college and going straight to work is one of the wisest financial decisions a high school student can make in the short term. For college students today the wages of college is debt, and most college education is not worth the debt.

Here's the rest.

If you don't have the cash, skip college and/or grad school. Good idea, right?

Frustrating

From the BBC:

Hillary Clinton has revived her campaign for the US presidency with projected primary election wins in three states. US media say she has taken the Democratic primary polls in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island. The results of caucus meetings in Texas are not yet known.

Why didn't Obama win Texas and Ohio? Thoughts?

"Black boil on the ass of Christendom"

I've really got to fix my google alerts or something because I totally missed the black boil statement below last April when, on another website, I was called the "token Negro" who is "a stain of the bedsheets of life" and an "ignorant baboon."

"Anthony Bradley, one of the black boils on the ass of Christendom. . ."

"Black boil," that's a new one. I don't know how I missed that one. I'm trying to keep track.

The Resident Negro

It's always fun to see comments about me on the internet! This is from our Southern Reformed friends over at Spirit, Water, Blood.

If it’s okay for Michelle Obama to write a doctoral thesis on her "blackness" then I should have a long career in academia. This reminds me of the PCA’s resident Negro, Anthony Bradley, who has made Thomas Sowell the subject of his doctoral dissertation. Real heavy stuff there. Here he is front and center at this year’s PCA conference. I wonder if he ever fulfilled his wish of moving to where the White girls dance with Negroes in the nightclubs.

But we have to give Bradley his due. In this Fox News piece, he asks a very good question: "If Barack Obama has really submitted himself to his church like he’s claimed, why does he have a different expression of faith from his own pastor?"

The "resident Negro, Anthony Bradley?" Really?

Here's more.

Hmmm. . .

Teen plotted For Months To Kill Parents

(Police say a teen charged in her family members' deaths was dating fellow suspect Charlie James Wilkinson).

From CNN:

EMORY, Texas (AP) -- A high school couple forced to break up spent about a month plotting to kill the girl's parents before her mother and two younger brothers were fatally shot and stabbed in a weekend ambush, according to records released Monday.

Charlie James Wilkinson, who had been dating Penny and Terry Caffey's 16-year-old daughter, told police his girlfriend wanted her parents dead because they forbade their relationship, according to Rains County Sheriff Department investigators.

"Wilkinson stated that he and [the girl] were in love and the only way they could be together is to kill the parents," the arrest affidavit stated.

The daughter, Wilkinson, 19, Charles Allen Waid, 20, and Bobbi Gale Johnson, 18, are each charged with three counts of capital murder in the predawn Saturday killings at the Caffeys' secluded home. The girl has not been identified because of her age. All four were being held Monday on $1.5 million bond.

Wow, so, if you don't like your parent's decisions about whom you can date the solution is to murder your family?

What's up with this?

Proof: Planned Parenthood Is Racist

Watch this clip and you decide for yourself.

One guy said he wanted to use the money to underwrite abortions to get rid of black people and someone from planned parenthood that she was "excited" to his request.

Will we hear anything from Hillary, Barack, Jesse, Al?

Why is the "black community" not outraged at this?

Fellas, what??