There is an excellent op-ed piece going around about the role religion has taken in this political season. I highly recommend you read it.
My New Picture
I found this picture this morning whilst reading the blogs and had to steal it and post it here. H/T to the Mad Priest for this.
VP debate draws 70 million viewers
Good for you America! This is great news!
They may be the undercard on the ticket, but Sarah Palin and Joe Biden drew far more viewers for their bout than their running mates did for theirs last week, the largest-ever audience for a vice presidential debate and the second-largest for any debate.
Nielsen Media Research reported yesterday that about 69.9 million people watched Thursday night’s debate, compared with about 52.4 million who saw John McCain and Barack Obama go at it Sept. 26. “Although scheduling the debate on a Thursday was obviously a factor in attracting more viewers than the presidential debate last Friday, public curiosity about Sarah Palin clearly drove these higher ratings,” Nielsen said.
The viewership figure equaled the second George H. W. Bush-Bill Clinton-Ross Perot presidential debate in 1992, and was exceeded only by the Jimmy Carter-Ronald Reagan debate in 1980 that drew 80.6 million viewers. The audience smashed the previous record for most-watched vice presidential face-off: Bush vs. Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 with 56.7 million viewers.
The 2004 version between Dick Cheney and John Edwards, for comparison, drew 43.6 million.
PBS, which does its ratings separately, said an estimated 3.5 million viewers watched its debate coverage, compared with 2.6 million last week.
O.J. Simpson found guilty in Vegas case
The odd thing about this case is that it was 13 years ago today that he was acquitted of the charge of killing his wife and her friend. I guess justice takes time. Watch out for Bubba in the poky O.J.
Mass. may seek a US loan as credit markets dry up
So now it begins! I guess if we are going to bail out Wall Street we are going to have to bail out everyone. Where can I get an application?
State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill this week approached the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston about lending Massachusetts money under the same extraordinary terms the government is giving banks and Wall Street firms during this financial crisis.
The request was prompted by the state’s inability to borrow from the short-term debt markets because the financial turmoil has essentially caused credit markets to stop lending or charge prohibitive rates. Earlier this week, Cahill’s office shelved a $750 million debt offering because there were no buyers for state or municipal debt, he said. He did say how much the state might want to borrow from the Fed.
State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill this week approached the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston about lending Massachusetts money under the same extraordinary terms the government is giving banks and Wall Street firms during this financial crisis.
The request was prompted by the state’s inability to borrow from the short-term debt markets because the financial turmoil has essentially caused credit markets to stop lending or charge prohibitive rates. Earlier this week, Cahill’s office shelved a $750 million debt offering because there were no buyers for state or municipal debt, he said. He did say how much the state might want to borrow from the Fed.
Question from a Reader
This reader has been looking for an answer to his question for sometime now. Let’s see if we can help him. I was unable to think of anything. Perhaps one of my serious readers can answer for him.
I have been reading my way through what could loosley be called the “Canon” of Catholic fiction . Authors like Flannery O’Connor, Evelyn Waugh, Walker Percy, Graham Greene, George Bernanos, Francois Mauriac, Ron Hanson, etc., etc., etc.
I guess I use the word “Catholic” authors (although the authors themselves didn’t want to be typecast), as authors who wore their faith on their sleeve, so to speak, either implicitly or explicitly, in their writing.
I was wondering if you were aware of any fiction authors who wear their Orthodox Christian spirituality on their sleeve in the same way as the authors listed above.
There seems to be an endless source of Orthodox non-fiction, but a dearth of Orthodox influenced fiction.
The best I have been able to come up with (and their orthodoxy and commitment to their faith varies from book to book) are authors like Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Nickolay Gogol, Nickolay Leskov, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, and Nikos Kazantzakis.
Can you make any suggestions to expand that list of authors whose Orthodoxy shines through in their writing (with available English translations)?
House Votes Today
The plan from Washington moves to the House of Representatives for a vote today. The Speaker of the House has said she will only bring it to a vote if the votes are there to pass it. Not a bad plan if you ask me since the last time it failed to stock market dropped like a stone. Also good business to do this on Friday to give the markets the weekend to settle down before trading resumes on Monday.
We see another bank deal gone sour and another bank stepping in without a bailout from the Feds. I think if we give it time things will correct themselves all on their own without the Feds getting involved.
Unemployment figures are due out today as well and that does not look good. Looks like we are going to be at an all time high. Well simples times will be a head we just need to keep our wits and I think we will be fine. Live within your means and all will be well. Remember greed is a sin!
Debate Follow-up
So I watched the entire thing and my statement about it not changing any minds I think holds true. I am not sure how Palin’s folksy way will play with the mainstream sometimes she comes off as not really having a clue. They both did a good job and did a good job a dodging the questions they really did not like. They did look at each other and engage each other in contrast to what was done last week.
The independent bipartisan Factcheck.org has done some fact checking on the debate last night. Seems they both were doing some… hmmm what shall I call it… exaggerating of the positions of themselves and the other guy. Be sure to read it here.
So now we move toward the top of the ticket debate on Tuesday night. Less then a month to go before it is all over, well for this year anyway.
Debate
The debate is on right now. We shall see what happens. I think most people will watch but I am not sure how many minds will change because of this. Palin needs this much more than Biden does so good luck to both of them I say. More on this on the morrow.
Facing East Podcast #29
Episode #29 is now online. In this episode we continue our discussion of what we do to relax. Join us for another road trip.