Much has been made about the 90+ thousand pages of documents leaked about American involvement in Afghanistan and the geopolitical struggle in the region.  Jon Stewart (of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) weighs in on this. Readers and viewers be advised, this contains strong language:

If ever there was a reason to support the troops, it would be to get them out of Afghanistan. We’re fighting alongside an Afghan army that could, quite frankly, care less about their safety and security. We’re fighting against a well-financed insurgency that might even be financed by the Pakistani government, which is in turn financed by us. We’re also fighting history: nobody has ever won a war in the eastern mountains of Afghanistan.

This war will not be won by military prowess alone. It will take a lot of well-choreographed diplomacy. Throwing money at Afghanistan (and Iraq) will not solve the problem.

I am a pacifist but there are times when even I believe that war is necessary. As Scripture says, “There is a time for war and a time for peace.”  We’re past the time for war. Now is the time for peace.

Support the troops: End this unsustainable war.

-E

Listen to the press conference held this morning:

Nick Bastian, the owner of the ever-popular RailLife.com, has some interesting pictures from today’s press conference that feature the now-drained Tempe Town Lake.

It’ll be interesting to see how the recovery takes place. We shall see!

-E

I must ask, then: How’s that whole “drill, baby, drill” thing working?

Second, at no time have I ever been affiliated with the Andres Cano and Vaughn Hillyard campaign.  I was, am, and will be an independent student at ASU.  My two preceding posts on this issue were written on my own accord with no influence from any members of Mr. Cano’s and Mr. Hillyard’s campaign.  My original endorsement post, penned 30 March 2010, was written because I chose to write down and outline the reasons why I would vote for Mr. Cano and Mr. Hillyard, exercising my First Amendment rights and also to fill a gap in original material on this blog.  Had I known that my endorsement would have been of significant detriment to their campaign leading to their disqualification, I would not have written it.  My follow-up post on the disqualification of Mr. Cano and Mr. Hillyard, penned 8 April 2010, was written because I felt there were serious flaws in the the last-minute disqualification of that ticket and why they should be seated since they won a majority of the popular vote.

Never did I think that I’d end up in the middle of an elections kerfuffle.

In being at ASU, I had hoped to keep a low profile (well, as much as possible) and ruffle as few feathers as possible.  If you haven’t been living in a cave over the past 48 hours, you know what’s been going on with the recent ASASUD elections-gate.  If you have been living in a cave and have no idea what’s been going on, click here for the Downtown Devil‘s coverage.

The thing that I find fascinating is that my blog post wherein I endorsed one ticket instead of another was chalked up as one of the three strikes against that ticket.  Newspapers and other media outlets endorse candidates.  For example, then-Senator Barack Obama lauded that he was endorsed by The New York Times to be this country’s 44th President.  Senator John McCain did the same with the endorsement of his hometown newspaper, The Arizona Republic.  Candidates laud that they have been endorsed by public safety, education, or public service workers’ unions all the time.  Why should student government candidates not be able to do the same thing?

I’m not going to mention the double standard that applies to current ASASUD officers in publicly endorsing candidates.  Tania Mendes is the current President of ASASUD, and on 26 March, she posted the following to the “LAST CHANCE TO VOTE Vasquez & Abercrombie for ASASUD” Facebook group page’s wall (see for yourself in the screen capture below):

"I wish you both all the best. You guys have done a great job this year by taking ASASUD to another level. Thank you for not just talking the talk but walking the walk. I applaud you for your involvement commitment and enthusiasm for ASASUD. Win it all!!!" -ASASUD president Tania Mendes (click image for larger version)

But no, I’m not going to mention that.  Nor am I going to be shallow and mention that Ms. Mendes, a journalism major, fails to include appropriate punctuation.  And I’m not also going to mention that the other ticket’s Facebook group page, “Vote Andres & Vaughn for ASASUD!,” didn’t feature any such high-level endorsements.  Nor am I going to mention that one can’t have it both ways.

I was not–and still am not–affiliated with any of the candidates for ASASUD student president.  I chose one side instead of another, and I chose to outline the reasons I voted for them on my blog and publicly endorse them.  I do not hold any position of elected or appointed student leadership anywhere.  On 4 February 2010, I stepped down from the only position of formal student leadership I ever held whilst at ASU, the President of BLAST’D, the Barrett Honors College Leadership and Service Team at the Downtown Phoenix campus. (If I were still in that position, I would have never publicly endorsed a candidate.  I would have voted and encouraged others to do the same.)  Presently, though, my only perceived conflict of interest might be that I am employed by the College of Public Programs; however, it is clearly noted on my blog that my opinions are my own and not those of ASU or any of its affiliated institutions.  I own my blog, ASU does not.  I exclusively control my blog’s content, ASU does not.

The big thing is that people assume things and don’t read everything.  After my endorsement blog post, I received an email from the ASASUD Elections Committee saying that “many students at the downtown campus [sic] found the title of your blog post…misleading” and that they “feel it implies that ASASUD Executive Board and Senate both support the Andres and Vaughn Campaign.”   There’s one problem to their argument: it clearly shows that they didn’t read the post.  The first person is employed throughout, meaning that these are my opinions and nobody else’s.  Upon prodding the Elections Committee, “many students” turned out to be seven students.

I’m sorry, but seven people’s confusion–perceived or otherwise–doesn’t merit me to rename anything. That’s just the way it goes.

When I post something, I spill everything.  You don’t have to read between the lines because I’ve given you the stuff between the lines.  To the chagrin of my colleagues and friends, I’m rather detailed in my correspondence.  (My former BLAST’D colleagues will agree with me!) I’m a believer in getting the word out correctly the first time so that no additional correspondence is needed.  It’s just who I am.  I don’t leave room for interpretation because it’s usually misinterpretation.

That’s enough from me.  Barring anything even more unusual happening, this is my last post on this subject.

-Edward Jensen

This is one of those shameless promotions, and this is for a good cause. (Double win!) Elizabeth Apodaca, the events coordinator for the College of Public Programs, is organizing an interesting event called Guys who Give. Basically, it’s a bachelor auction whose proceeds benefit the Leukaemia & Lymphoma Society.  See the poster:

(In full disclosure: I’m not up for auction. This is definitely a good thing.)

If this is your thing, check out http://guyswhogive.com/ to learn more and buy tickets.

And good work, Elizabeth!

-Edward Jensen

www.youtube.com/watch?v=83R8RHIuR34

-Edward Jensen

Thus begin the Amendments to the United States Constitution. As anyone who’s taken a civics course knows, the US Constitution is the “supreme law of the land” (cf. Article VI par. 2; also see the 14th Amendment).

Consider also the late developments happening with Crossroads United Methodist Church. As preface, they had a homeless ministry at their church, Central Avenue and Northern in the quasi-upscale North Central neighborhood. Then the neighborhood didn’t like seeing homeless people in their posh neighborhood, complained, got the city involved, and the city made a decision that Crossroads had to stop this ministry. After an appeal made by Crossroads, the city still stood by its decision.

Depending on your angle, it’s NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) at its finest or its worst.

Granted, when one thinks of the neighborhood around Central and Northern, one doesn’t really think about homeless ministries. Most of the homeless reside in and near Downtown Phoenix. I would think that if Crossroads wanted to do this in a more effective (whatever this means) fashion, then doing outreach and meal service would be more effective there. There’s a fantastic human services campus at 12th Ave and Jefferson–maybe a partnership there should be in the works.

But that’s irrelevant to my argument. I am, however, reminded of something from Scripture:

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” [excerpted from "The Judgment of the Nations," Matthew 25:31-46 NRSV]

As The Rev. John Petty (All Saints’ Lutheran Church, Aurora, Colorado) noted in his blog Progressive Involvement,

In liberation theology circles, this is called the “preferential option for the poor,” which is supposed to be controversial, but, for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. All four gospels state very clearly, one way or another, that Christ is a friend of the poor, identifies with them, is found with them. It’s not for nothing that Jesus was born to a poverty-stricken Jewish family from a hick little town. [source]

Jesus was a friend of the poor. Christians – followers of Christ – should be friends of the poor as well.

This brings me back to the original crux of this entry, taken from the First Amendment: Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion.

Let’s make a few assumptions here. First, that the Gospel of St Matthew is accepted canon in Christianity. Second, Christianity is accepted as a religion. In essence, the city is redefining Christianity. Christianity by city policy.

If a church wants to reach out to “the least of these” in a homeless ministries program, then it has its Constitutional rights to do so. NIMBY-ists can complain until they’re blue in the face, but it should be a Constitutional right. Wait: it is.

Lord, have mercy!

-Edward Jensen

epilogue. In writing this post, I consulted with a couple people whom I know are involved in this program but aren’t the official “spokespeople” for the mission. In my conversations back-and-forth, what I’m about to post was shared. This person has graciously and generously allowed me to post their comments here but has requested that they remain anonymous, again, because they aren’t the official spokesperson. Respecting that and keeping this in mind, here goes:

Just a couple of details to help bring some clarification…

The homeless that attend don’t come out of the south downtown area (like Jefferson and 12th Ave, several miles away), but rather out of the north (just a couple of miles away, on the other side of the canal) in Sunnyslope (living in the same zip code, or the annexed zip code).

While there are homeless in attendance, there are also A LOT of families and people who live in poor housing who attend and are just a paycheck or two from being homeless. We bus people in so they don’t have to walk across the neighbors yards (although, some still take public transportation and come in).

Several of the people who attend the service, consider it their “community of faith.” It is a worship service (the worship service is NOT just an afterthought – but worship music is played while they sit and wait for breakfast and I preach for about 20 minutes to a half hour, Communion and prayer line forms).

There is an offering box where those who attend have given loose change and dollars and have supported an orphanage in Belarus (yes, caring for those who are even in more dire straights than they are!).

The church and outreach to the poor have reached out to the neighbors – supplying a 24 hour call line and regular public meetings for complaints and positive responses too. But a handful of neighbors have expressed, “Even if you don’t serve food, we want you shut down because of who is coming.” The neighbors have lied about many of the details to the media to shut us down, while the outreach has not “slimed” the neighbors but have talked nicely and worked to love all.

There are neighbors who attend the service as well. Not just the needy.

The entire grounds are cleared and the “homeless” are gone by 10 am. The “homeless” help to clean and put everything away – then they leave.

A message of hope and having a “God-given dream and purpose” has helped to turn lives around. Many have come off the streets, off of drugs, into poor housing, into jobs, into better housing, and even going to college because of the hope found in these meetings. There’s a core community who encourages each other and prays for each other.

While there are homeless people who attend, it is this core group of the poor in recovery who attend and makes this a community of faith so special (they are walking on own journey to a better life for themselves and encouraging those beside them on the way).

Thanks for your reporting on this.

With apologies to Stanley Kramer, it’s a mad, mad, mad, mad, county…

-Edward Jensen

www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1criD7cMfs

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCFFxidhcy0

-Edward Jensen

And, strangely, all I can think of is the Large Hadron Rap:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM

-Edward Jensen

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Paul Manz was a church organist who took the liberty of being creative at the keyboard. He liked to introduce hymns that the congregation at Minneapolis’ Mount Olive Lutheran Church would sing with improvisations. Church members loved them, and word about his compositions eventually led to Manz playing at hymn festivals nationwide.

For 37 years, he led music at Mount Olive at 3045 Chicago Av. S., where his music will be played and prayer services will be held from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to mourn and honor him. He died Wednesday in St. Paul following a long illness. He was 90. [source]

Now, he’s with the company of Bach, Handel, Buxtehude, Mozart, and the entire company of saints. He will be missed but his music lives on.

-Edward Jensen

“It’s appropriate that this program brings together two retiring Valley icons,” said the city’s acting Public Information Office Director Deborah Sedillo Dugan.

The program features testimonials by professional sports magnate and civic leader Jerry Colangelo; C.A. Howlett, US Airways senior vice president of public affairs; Bill Post, Pinnacle West Capital chief executive officer; Ioanna Morfessis, president of IO.INC, a national economic-development consulting firm; Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox; former City Councilman Calvin C. Goode; former Deputy City Manager Jack Tevlin; and Lionel Lyons, director of the city’s Equal Opportunity Department.

The Fairbanks family shared many personal photos for the program, which depicts Phoenix’s growth and development under Fairbanks’ leadership.

The 63-year-old Phoenix native, whose last day is Thursday, Nov. 5, was appointed city manager in 1990. He has held the position longer than any previous manager. Under his leadership, Phoenix earned major accomplishments and grew to the fifth-largest city in the country.

Visit phoenix.gov/11 to view the replay schedule.

PHX 11 is the city’s award-winning news and information station broadcast on Cox Cable and accessible on the city’s Internet site, phoenix.gov. Viewers also can follow PHX 11 on Twitter: twitter.com/watchphx11.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA4-kuZN26A

So, it’s sad to see this building go, but it had become quickly vandalized and blighted. I guess this was for the best.

-Edward Jensen

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8

How quickly the world changes…

-Edward Jensen

The First Friday in October, KBAQ and the Phoenix Chorale (formerly the Phoenix Bach Choir) are teaming up to expose listeners to the vibrant arts scene in Downtown Phoenix through the first-ever First Friday scavenger hunt!

Head to KBAQ.org now to download a virtual scavenger hunt of things you would see on a First Friday artwalk — it may be a new view of a familiar gallery or an unfamiliar art space that could be a fabulous find. Your mission is to identify correctly all images on the KBAQ.org Scavenger Hunt webpage between today and next First Friday for a chance to win a fun Phoenix Chorale prize package.

Then, come visit KBAQ and the Phoenix Chorale on First Friday, October 2 at the Trinity Cathedral (100 W. Roosevelt St.) from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. to turn in your entry sheet and see how many you answered correctly. Stick around to listen to the Chorale’s open rehearsal for its fall performance! Test your eagle eyes against other arts enthusiasts this September – and discover a new part of the Phoenix arts scene — with KBAQ and the Phoenix Chorale.

[source]

Wow. Now this is fun!  Who wants to form a College of Public Programs team?

-Edward Jensen

Today is a sad day for Classical music in the United States…