Obama breaks my heart for the first time

On February 6th, President Obama signed an executive order establishing the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, which is a mild reinvention of the previous administration's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The White House press release on the matter describes the new White House program as "a resource for nonprofits and community organizations, both secular and faith based, looking for ways to make a bigger impact in their communities, learn their obligations under the law, cut through red tape, and make the most of what the federal government has to offer." Blah.

Basically, the program doles out federal money to religious and non-religious groups providing various social services. Anyone with even a passing interest in the separation of church and state should be concerned with the mere existence of such a federal program as it gives taxpayer money to religious organizations. Regardless of how religious organizations are intended to use the funds, the action of giving public money to such groups is constitutionally problematic. Futhermore, Obama's new Office of Faith-Baised and Neighborhood Partnership DOES NOT alter the previous administration's decision that faith-based groups receiving public funds are free to discriminate on a religious basis when hiring employees. This is absolutely contrary to a 2008 speech Obama gave, in which he noted the following (my emphases):

Now, make no mistake, as someone who used to teach constitutional law, I believe deeply in the separation of church and state, but I don't believe this partnership will endanger that idea – so long as we follow a few basic principles. First, if you get a federal grant, you can't use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can't discriminate against them – or against the people you hire – on the basis of their religion. Second, federal dollars that go directly to churches, temples, and mosques can only be used on secular programs. And we'll also ensure that taxpayer dollars only go to those programs that actually work.

I am more than saddened Obama's deep belief in the separation of church and state has wandered towards the shallow end.

Iceland 1, The Rest of Us 0

This is really freakin' cool. Iceland is basically run completely on sustainable energy already (harnessed geothermal from their many volcanoes, mostly) and now are installing a hydrogen-fuel infrastructure. Some of their buses and government-owned vehicles are already hydrogen-fueled, in addition to a whale-watching boat.

Since their power infrastructure is already sustainable, one could argue that there is no need for hydrogen, since driving an electric car would be zero emissions, and that technology already exists (and is arguably less-explosive), but Icelanders counter that having to recharge a vehicle doesn't work in such a sparsely-populated country, and wouldn't work for boats who can be out to sea for weeks at a time.

It does sadden me that the only countries capable of these kinds of progressive initiatives are small, rich (well, formerly rich) states like Sweden, Denmark and Iceland, but maybe eventually their successes will trickle down to our land of gluttony. Go Iceland!

Syllabus, February 11, 2009

Every now and then we feel the need to recommend things that we've been enjoying lately. Think of it as The Lit Department's syllabus to life. Only less academic. And less oppressive.

The Guggenheim Grotto (music)
The Lit Dept. was first introduced to this male Irish singer-songwriter duo by a free download of their single "Philosophia" on iTunes a few years back, and the song has been a mainstay on our playlists ever since. Their melancholic lyrics, lilting melodies, and at-times almost bluegrass sound offers the perfect soundtrack to cry to, or to dance along to, depending on how your day is going. And their indie-musician aesthetic and Irish accents don't hurt either (if you're into that sort of thing). - CM

Born to Be Good (literature)
This new book by Dacher Keltner explores, what he calls, the Zen Romantic theory of, well, humanity. It looks like a self-help book, and we admit, we were weary when we started reading it. But in the first chapter alone Keltner draws from the research of Charles Darwin, the teachings of Confucious, theories of economists like Fehr and Schmidt, and on and on. It's fascinating insight into, well, goodness, and the evolution of human emotion, and is engaging and easy to read, and leaves you feeling—you guessed it—good. - CM

Penny Plastic (web)
Penny's blog manages to keep a theme—how to navigate your way out of debt— without getting hung up on the boring money, numbers-crunching side of things. Full disclosure, she's a friend of the Lit Dept. But would we be friends with someone who didn't have the charisma and gravitas to maintain they're own engaging blog? Thought not. - CM

The Vanilla Roobois (om nom nom nom)
Tea Latte (with soy milk) at Starbucks. I know, I know, corporate monoculture at its worst. But it's so damn good. Especially mid-winter in Boston. And roobois is actually good for you. And, again, so damn good. - CM

Running
We never thought we'd live to see the day when we enjoyed running. So many fond memories of faking illnesses and injuries to avoid the dreaded cross country run on Fridays in high school P.E. It's even more ironic that our favorite sport is soccer, which is essentially 90 minutes of all out sprinting behind a black and white ball. But we've recently become acquainted with the joys of treadmill running (particularly when you live in a climate with an average winter temp of 20 degrees F), and one of us was even kicked off said treadmill for overstaying her the gym's peak use time limit. NEVER thought that would happen. - CM

Pub Quizzes
English and History majors unite! Here is a time to exhibit your otherwise unappreciated and functionally useless collection of facts. Capital of Ecuador? Quito! Dickens first published work? The Pickwick Papers! Just make sure you bring along a science geek or two for all those pesky questions about mercury and mitochondria. And hopefully they'll pick up the beer tab as well thanks to the high-paying jobs they got right after finishing school. Those bastards. - EB

True fix for economy? Cancel my student loan debt

As Jon Chattman at HuffPo points out, padding bank execs wallets as the rest of us attempt to bail out our tiny sinking rafts isn't really gonna help matters. Enter Robert Applebaum, an average Joe trying to make ends meet, and at 35, still dealing with a sizeable amount of student loan debt. He has started a Facebook group and a petition to back his genius solution: Cancel student loan debt to stimulate the economy.

As someone crippled by her own chunk of debt, this idea makes me giddy. And, unlike most stimulus plans being tossed around, sounds like it could actually work. Just think of how many young professionals could suddenly toss an extra 100, 200, even 500 bucks a month into the economy if they weren't saddled with debt. I could afford to maybe take a vacation, buy a car, splurge on some fancy new shoes every once in awhile. This would have a serious effect on consumer confidence (and on retailer revenue).

So, cheers to you Robert Applebaum. Unfortunately, I think there's no chance in hell this will ever happen... But then again, that's what I said a few years back about a certain awesome presidential hopeful.

Bank of America takes taxpayers money, spends it on beer

Despite a near collapse that required $45 billion in federal taxpayer bailout funds, Bank of America sponsored a five day carnival-like affair just outside the Super Bowl stadium this past week as President Obama decried wasteful spending on Wall St.

Is this what they're doing with all my overdraft fees?

Bastards.