Circus

So they say they have reached an agreement on a bailout plan. I think one of the most frustrating things to be, would be someone, who knew what he was talking about, having to deal with politicians. I have met a few that I like. I believe that they take their work seriously and with noble intentions. But most of them....

I'm already sick of the Presidential campaign. Spin, spin, and more spin. I used to admire Obama but I'm convinced he is simply in it for the power and the prestige. I don't care for either his record or lack there of. Sorry, no knight in shining armor here. He will simply use the charisma to make it happen.

I used to like McCain but it is sad to see someone stoop so low simply because he believes it is the only way to get elected. It is as if he doesn't see the conflicts he creates in his message. And Palin? Are you kidding me? Purely political.

To top it off I have to have Biden thrown in my face again. I actually used to like him. Then I watched his condescending and patronizing treatment of Bork and it was all I could take. It was like watching a junior high kid interviewing the next candidate for school principle. This tells me as much about Obama as Palin tells me about McCain.

So I feel sorry for the finance guys who have to sit and listen to the politicians comment on the bailout plan. It is as if the handlers went to unlock the cages to let them out for their appearances. How much television time can I get? How can I come across as a friend of the people? How can I make it look like this was all my idea? How can I blame this mess on someone else even though I had just as big a role to play as everybody else? Please lock them up again and this time throw away the key.

Sorry for breaking my rule on only one political post but I just had to rant. I'll go back to my private life as a cynic.

So Long

Matt Millen either was fired or resigned from the Detroit Lions today. As a long, and I mean long, suffering fan of the Lions I can only say that this is a beautiful day. Maybe now we can dream of actually winning after the next 10 years it is going to take to clean up this mess. And I may even be able to allow people to buy a Ford again without ridicule, but I think I'll wait and see who they hire to be the next Pres/GM first.

Football

As a fan of the Detroit Lions and the Michigan Wolverines I know what it means to be frustrated beyond hope. (Actually, I am pleased with Michigan's progress. They actually beat ND in almost every offensive category except the score and, of course, turnovers. But it was a big improvement from the first two games.) But the frustration with my college and pro teams and the fact that my son is a participant has now turned my attention to high school football. I've never been much of a HS football fan and this year's version from our local school is not worth much attention. But I have enjoyed watching my son play.

This is his first year ever in football and along with being a sophomore he finds himself relegated to jv. It's good for him as he definitely needs the experience. He couldn't play in the first game because he missed too much practice do to illness. His second game he subbed in quite a bit and yesterday he started at defensive tackle and played on all but a few of the defensive plays.

He did well but it was interesting to watch the battle within the war. He and the opposing linemen seemed to be playing their own little game of wreaking mayhem on each other no matter what else was going on in the game. I was kind of glad his mother wasn't there because I'm not sure how she would have handled seeing her son in the brutal give and take.

In the end I'm not sure if he got more than he gave but he thoroughly enjoyed it in any case. That they came back to win the game in the closing seconds may have softened some of the blows. But for right now he can't wait to get back out there, and I can't wait to watch.

Joy

I just took great joy in deleting an email, caught in my spam filter, from a para-church ministry that really bothers me. I know it is sick that I find such pleasure in this but.... I just do. Ha Ha Ha

Models

Taleb (the guy from the previous post) also had something interesting to say about models. He felt one of the reasons people were surprised by a black swan event like the sub-prime collapse was that people relied on models rather than experience. Models are easy to teach (versus experience) and look like science even if they actually perform worse and worse.

Again, this seems to apply to church on so many levels. Not only does the church also like models it doesn't like to take an honest look at experience because we don't like what it tells us. On top of that we can add the caveat, "Just because it sounds good doesn't mean it is." (or feels good, or tastes good, etc.)

Risk

I read an article that featured Nicholas Taleb who wrote The Black Swan about risk assessment. Black Swan Theory is about large impact hard to predict risk and Taleb writes about how it relates to business, especially in light of the sub-prime disaster.

In the article he talks about the fact that bank failure isn't really anything new. Banks have always failed but there were so many banks it really wasn't a big deal, at least in the big picture. Taleb relates it to ecology and how diversification makes our ecology stronger and able to bounce back from natural catastrophes. But the banking picture is different today. With all the mergers and acquisitions we have a much smaller number of banks. The result when one of these giants fail is devastating.

I think we need to be careful in the church to use God's ecology rather than man's. This has far reaching impact all the way down to our smallest Sunday School class. Taleb notes that a key characteristic of Black Swan Theory is that it surprises us when we actually should have seen it coming. It is easy to believe that it will never happen, at least not to us. This morning I'm wondering how closely my church's ecology mirrors the ecology we see in God's creation. Actually, I'm staring at the gulf between the two.