Kudlow 101: There Ain’t No Recession

Yesterday’s tremendous ADP jobs report puts the dagger into the very heart of the recession case.


The fact is, America is working.

Look at how close the reports parallel one another. So here’s my point: Jobs aren’t folding. Jobs aren’t plummeting. Jobs are strengthening. Now I’m not smart enough to know what the jobs number is going to be tomorrow, but you could easily have a blockbuster 200,000 jobs report. I don’t know, it could be 150K, it could be minus 600K, but I highly doubt that folks. When you see this kind of ADP report, you’ve got a whole new situation.

Now let’s move on to our second chart—productivity. The latest productivity report was staggering. In fact, it was the best in four years.


Productivity rising is good for growth. It’s good for profits. And it’s good for low inflation.

Look at our third chart—business inflation. Guess what folks? It’s falling.


Look at that. Down from 3.5 percent a year ago, to 1.5 percent today.

Finally, a look at financial profits.


After-tax, they are doing better than people think. We’re talking about 300,000 companies here, from the IRS based GDP reports. They are profitable. Sure, S&P financials are down about 35 percent. But NIPA financials are up 8 percent on the year.

So you’re looking at $332 billion of profits in the latest quarter, that’s a little less than last quarter. But it’s $20 billion more than the first quarter, $20 billion more than all of ’06, and about $60-70 billion more than ’05.

The point of the story is even if Wall Street takes $200-300 billion in mortgage losses, as a result of loan markdowns, profitability is more than adequate to stem the tide and hold us.

There ain’t no recession.

How Do Christians Explain the Truth to All People?

How Should We Then Work?

The Five Points of Criticism

1. “Directly, not indirectly”
2. “Seriously, not humorously”
3. “As if it’s important, not casually”
4. “Privately, not publicly”
5. “Out of love for them, not to express your feeling or frustration”

The Science of Gore's Nobel

What if everyone believes in global warmism only because everyone believes in global warmism?

'High Confidence' Games: The CIA's flip-flop on Iran is hardly reassuring.

Undermisestimating

According to a declassified, and indeed ambitiously publicized report -- launched by Stephen Hadley, the national security adviser, from a White House press conference, Monday -- the U.S. now thinks Iran's ayatollahs gave up their nuclear weapons programme sometime in 2003. At least, that is the conclusion of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, which melds reports from sixteen U.S. intelligence agencies. This is big news, whether or not the findings are true.

...This leaves two options in responding to the latest findings on Iran, for journalists holding fixed points of view. The first is to assume that no mortal enemy of the U.S. ever has any WMD, and therefore the Yankee spies are right at last, on the stopped-clock principle. The other is to assume that U.S. intelligence estimates are always wrong, in which case, we had all better duck.

...The U.S. intelligence agencies appear to be alone in their current Iran assessment, except for Russia, which has long maintained Iran's intentions are peaceful, while earning huge sums building much of the nuclear infrastructure in question. Israel, for instance, is scratching her collective head, and the current Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak -- not a warmonger, but the Labour party man who as prime minister tried to give east Jerusalem away at Camp David but failed -- said this to Israeli Army Radio: “It's apparently true that in 2003 Iran stopped pursuing its military nuclear program for a time. But in our opinion, since then it has apparently continued that program.”

We do not know the sources for the revelation about 2003: that part is naturally classified. I speculate that the Iranians went to some trouble to document such a transient decision, made in a moment when the U.S. and allies appeared more threatening than they do now, and then fed the material to the West through multiple, and therefore mutually confirming, channels. I, for what my judgement is worth, think it so obvious that a regime of Iran's nature, and with Iran's means, and Iran's connexions, is pursuing nuclear weapons, that I will hardly be persuaded to the contrary, even by an entire football stadium full of Stephen Hadleys.

Nehemiah: Building a City Within the City

Week One: Building a City Within a City (Nehemiah 1:1-11a)
Week Two: Praying & Planning
Week Three: Mission & Mockery
Week Four: Leading & Laboring
Week Five: Pain & Progress
Week Six: Sword & Trowel
Week Seven: Wealth & Worship
Week Eight: Humility & Hospitality
Week Nine: Diversion & Deception
Week Ten: Completion, Critics & Continuation
Week Eleven: Multitudes & Money
Week Twelve: Air War & Ground War
Week Thirteen: Religion & Revival
Week Fourteen: Prayer & Repentance
Week Fifteen: Change & Covenant
Week Sixteen: Urban & Missional
Week Seventeen: Movement & Bricks
Week Eighteen: Dedication and Delight
Week Nineteen: Ministry & Money
Week Twenty: Anger & Action
Week 21: Work & Worship
Week 22: Fathers & Fighting

Video shorts from the Rebels Guide to Joy -- The Life of a Saint: Johnny Cash

Testimonies of temptation are hard to find, Christians rarely talk about temptation and struggling with sin. In order to find an unpolished testimony that deals squarely with temptation we look to the great Johnny Cash.

download the video

Reds trio seeking nod from the Hall of Fame

A trio of Reds greats -- Dave Concepcion, Jose Rijo and Dave Parker -- are on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame this year. Concepcion, who is on the ballot for the 15th and final year, won two World Series championships with the Reds in the '70s.

Popular Nuxhall overwhelming Frick finalist, Morgan also makes cut

More than two-thirds of voters threw their support behind Nuxhall. Of the 122,505 fans who participated in the online election, 82,304 (67.2 percent) voted for Nuxhall.

Joe Nuxhall (82,304 fan votes), Bill King (7,659) and Joe Morgan (6,065) earned spots on the ballot through the online vote, taking place exclusively at www.baseballhall.org, the online home of the Museum. The three fan selections will be joined by broadcasters Tom Cheek, Ken Coleman, Dizzy Dean, Tony Kubek, Graham McNamee, Dave Niehaus and Dave Van Horne, who were selected by a research committee from the Cooperstown-based museum.

Now in its fifth year, the Museum’s online fan balloting established a record for votes cast and for most votes by a single candidate, as Nuxhall totaled nearly 50,000 more votes than the 34,705 received by Lon Simmons in 2003, as he secured a position on the 2004 ballot. More than 105,000 votes were in cast in November 2003, for the 2004 Award ballot, the previous single-month vote total in the fan selection. In 2006, King (11,943), Nuxhall (8,049) and Ken Harrelson (6,795) were selected by fans for the 2007 ballot through the online vote, with Kansas City’s Denny Matthews winning the award.

Results of the Frick Award Committee's selection will be announced Feb. 19, with the winner to be honored at the 2008 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies on July 27 at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, N.Y.

LOBBY TWO OF THE VOTERS TO VOTE FOR JOE
You can email two of the voters, Barry Horn (bhorn@dallasnews.com) of the Dallas Morning News and Larry Stewart (larry.stewart@latimes.com) of the Los Angeles Times to let them know they need to vote for Joe.

The Van Diepen Demarche

...As with many NIEs, this one raises more questions than it answers. And remember: this document will be a cornerstone of U.S. policy-making toward Iran for at least the next two years, possibly longer. The potential consequences of "getting it wrong" are very grave, to say the least.

Changing the Assessment on Iran

So, why the stunning reversal?

The answer probably lies in a single name: General Ali Rez Asgari.

General Asgari is the former Deputy Iranian Defense Minister and Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander who defected to the west earlier this year. Asgari is the highest-ranking Iranian military defector in decades; it is widely believed that he has detailed knowledge of Tehran's most sensitive operations, including its sponsorship of Hizballah, and information on Iran's nuclear program.

Want to Go 'Green'? Stay Married. Divorced Households Have Negative Impact on Environment, Study Finds

(ABC News Photo Illustration)

Norman Podhoretz: Dark Suspicions about the NIE

A new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), entitled “Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities,” has just dealt a serious blow to the argument some of us have been making that Iran is intent on building nuclear weapons and that neither diplomacy nor sanctions can prevent it from succeeding. Thus, this latest NIE “judges with high confidence that in fall 2003 Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program”; it “judges with high confidence that the halt was directed primarily in response to increasing international scrutiny and pressure resulting from exposure of Iran’s previously undeclared nuclear work”; it “assesses with moderate confidence that Tehran had not restarted its nuclear weapons program as of mid-2007”; it assesses, also with only “moderate confidence that the halt to those activities represents a halt to Iran’s entire nuclear weapons program”; but even if not, it judges “with high confidence that Iran will not be technically capable of producing and reprocessing enough plutonium for a weapon before about 2015.”

These findings are startling, not least because in key respects they represent a 180-degree turn from the conclusions of the last NIE on Iran’s nuclear program. For that one, issued in May 2005, assessed “with high confidence that Iran currently is determined to develop nuclear weapons” and to press on “despite its international obligations and international pressure.”

In other words, a full two years after Iran supposedly called a halt to its nuclear program, the intelligence community was still as sure as it ever is about anything that Iran was determined to build a nuclear arsenal. Why then should we believe it when it now tells us, and with the same “high confidence,” that Iran had already called a halt to its nuclear-weapons program in 2003? Similarly with the intelligence community’s reversal on the effectiveness of international pressure. In 2005, the NIE was highly confident that international pressure had not lessened Iran’s determination to develop nuclear weapons, and yet now, in 2007, the intelligence community is just as confident that international pressure had already done the trick by 2003.

It is worth remembering that in 2002, one of the conclusions offered by the NIE, also with “high confidence,” was that “Iraq is continuing, and in some areas expanding its chemical, biological, nuclear, and missile programs contrary to UN resolutions.” And another conclusion, offered with high confidence too, was that “Iraq could make a nuclear weapon in months to a year once it acquires sufficient weapons-grade fissile material.”

I must confess to suspecting that the intelligence community, having been excoriated for supporting the then universal belief that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, is now bending over backward to counter what has up to now been a similarly universal view (including as is evident from the 2005 NIE, within the intelligence community itself) that Iran is hell-bent on developing nuclear weapons. I also suspect that, having been excoriated as well for minimizing the time it would take Saddam to add nuclear weapons to his arsenal, the intelligence community is now bending over backward to maximize the time it will take Iran to reach the same goal.

But I entertain an even darker suspicion. It is that the intelligence community, which has for some years now been leaking material calculated to undermine George W. Bush, is doing it again. This time the purpose is to head off the possibility that the President may order air strikes on the Iranian nuclear installations. As the intelligence community must know, if he were to do so, it would be as a last resort, only after it had become undeniable that neither negotiations nor sanctions could prevent Iran from getting the bomb, and only after being convinced that it was very close to succeeding. How better, then, to stop Bush in his tracks than by telling him and the world that such pressures have already been effective and that keeping them up could well bring about “a halt to Iran’s entire nuclear weapons program”—especially if the negotiations and sanctions were combined with a goodly dose of appeasement or, in the NIE’s own euphemistic formulation, “with opportunities for Iran to achieve its security, prestige, and goals for regional influence in other ways.”

If this is what lies behind the release of the new NIE, its authors can take satisfaction in the response it has elicited from the White House. Quoth Stephen Hadley, George W. Bush’s National Security Adviser: “The estimate offers grounds for hope that the problem can be solved diplomatically—without the use of force—as the administration has been trying to do.”

I should add that I offer these assessments and judgments with no more than “moderate confidence.”

Tuesday, Wednesday Peak Online Shopping Days

Bono: 'U2 Fans will feel the difference on new album'

Bono has warned U2 fans they will "feel the difference" with the material they are working on for their next album.

The singer explained that the band are currently working in the south of France on the follow-up to 2004's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. Following demo sessions in Africa earlier in the year, the singer reckons the new record will surprise people.

"We're just beginning the processes," Bono told The Independent. "We did some recording in Morocco last year. All the band went to an amazing religious music festival in Fez with some incredible sufi singers. It was a real humbling thing for a punk-rock shouter, listening to these people who just close their eyes for 40 minutes and sing the most sophisticated melodies."

He added: "We got this little riad, a small hotel with a courtyard in the middle and set up the band there, with a square of sky over our head. The two great catalysts of U2's recording life, [producers] Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, joined us. We'd record during the day and then disappear into windy streets of the medina at night. It was an inspiring experience and a drummer's paradise."

The singer said the band is now working through those demos during the French sessions and that while the new record is not world music, he promised fans would "feel the difference."

"U2 in dancefloor shock!" joked Bono. "Normally when you play a U2 tune, it clears the dancefloor. And that may not be true of this. There's some trance influences. But there's some very hardcore guitar coming out of the Edge. Real molten metal. It's not like anything we've ever done before, and we don't think it sounds like anything anyone else has done either."

He explained that fans might even get more than they bargained for.

"We have enough material for two albums but it has to be extraordinary," he explained. "And I think we've got that."

The singer, who was speaking to mark World AIDS Day on behalf of the (RED) campaign, insisted the campaign was making a different in Africa and called on the world to increase its efforts.

"Three years ago there was virtually no one in Africa on antiretroviral drugs," he explained. "Now you'll have 2 million by the end of this year."

Season of one stunner after another

Tracking the Top 25 (.pdf)

CHARTING THE TOP 25

One thing held to form – the top teams in the poll did better collectively than the lower-ranked teams. The breakdown:

Group	Record	Pct.
Top 5	43-15	.741
6-10	45-17	.726
11-15	40-17	.701
16-20	40-20	.667
21-25	39-23	.629
Totals	207-92	.692

Crime, Drugs, Welfare—and Other Good News

"Despite persistent anomalies and backslidings, some species of cultural re-norming certainly seems to have been occurring in this country over the past decade-and-a-half, and it is fascinating to observe in whose hearts its effects have registered most strongly. In attitudes toward education, drugs, abortion, religion, marriage, and divorce, the current generation of teenagers and young adults appears in many respects to be more culturally conservative than its immediate predecessors. To any who may have written off American society as incorrigibly corrupt and adrift, these young people offer a powerful reminder of the boundless inner resources still at our disposal, and of our constantly surprising national resilience."

My Short March Through China

"Thinking about Yuan and her friends—cosmopolitan, English-speaking students at China’s most elite university—I find it difficult to imagine that the People’s Republic will easily contain them. Some will undoubtedly be co-opted by economic opportunities, like much of China’s middle class; others will end up serving the Chinese state, perhaps in a role like that of Mr. Huang, practicing the “techniques of hospitality” on foreign visitors. But it seems just as likely that, following the lead of the previous generation, they will begin to ask why China, alone among the world’s great nations, cannot enjoy the full range of modern freedoms. Their protestations aside, they may yet have their own Tiananmen. If it comes to that, one can only pray that this time it turns out very differently."

A Mad Man Gets His Head Together

To The Moon! (In a Minivan)

NASA's New Spacacraft: Ares & Orion

The Driver's Seat A partial Orion mock-up known as the ROC (reconfigurable operational cockpit) allows astronauts to evaluate the craft's control panel by going through simulations of critical stages of a mission. The ROC has already been used to resolve disputes about window design.

Ares I and Ares V. Image Credit: NASA

Evel Knievel Dies at 69

Bo Knows Best

Lonnie Major/Getty ImagesAdd Bo's strength to his intensity and you end up with a few snapped bats.

All Eyes On Apple: Will the gray light of January cool the world's hottest company?

John Ford to Replace Root as Discovery Channel President

Discovery Channel and Science Channel president and general manager Jane Root is out at the company, Discovery Communications president and CEO David Zaslav confirmed.

She is being let her out of her contract effective immediately to return to her native United Kingdom, and Discovery veteran John Ford -- who rejoined the company in September after years away at competitor National Geographic Channel -- will assume the head slot at Discovery Channel. The company is recruiting a new chief for Science.

The news came just hours before the Maryland-based cable channels' parent company, Discovery Communications, and most of its senior executives were to hold their annual holiday party for press in New York.

Root weathered a ratings rollercoaster at Discovery Channel since she joined in May 2004 after leaving as controller of the United Kingdom's BBC2, and she helped to bring it out of a trough with big year-to-year gains for the past several months. But she was hired by the previous Discovery regime under former chief Billy Campbell.

Zaslav said bringing in Ford, whose career he said he has followed for years, has been a priority since he joined the company in January 2007.

"No one knows or understands the Discovery business and nonfiction programming better than John Ford," Zaslav told B&C. The two became close when Ford was heading programming at NGC and Zaslav was on its board. "I just felt like he had a ton of horsepower and we had to get him in here from day one," Zaslav added.

Ford spent 14 years at Discovery before leaving to join NGC in 2003. Since returning, he has run The Military Channel and Discovery Times Channel, which the company announced earlier this week would be rebranded as Investigation Discovery.

He left Discovery several months after Campbell was named president of the company -- a role many thought Ford would be tapped for. As executive vice president of programming for NGC, he oversaw originals, acquisitions, production and scheduling through a period of ratings, distribution and ad-sales increases over two few years.

On his watch, NGC grew from an emerging network to a near-fully distributed one, increasing carriage from 45 million homes to more than 63 million, boosting ratings quarter over quarter and tripling ad sales.

Root, meanwhile, had seemed to be a darling at Discovery lately, having overseen a ratings turnaround and driven home a message to the advertising community that the channel had successfully returning to its science and nature-themed programming roots and tapped into a notion in young viewers' minds that knowledge is cool.

Zaslav added Science to her purview in February amid a major shakeup he instituted.

Ford is being tasked with energizing Discovery by continuing to program the mix of science, nature, archeology, adventure and exploration it currently runs, Zaslav said. Discovery has climbed out of a ratings trough over the past two years by programming more shows about science, nature and general knowledge. It averaged 1.2 million viewers in primetime during November, up 20% from last year, according to Nielsen Media Research.

That was after having turned off longtime viewers with over-programmed, off-brand shows like Monster Garage.

Now the network is looking to build upon that by creatively expanding the brand on TV and positioning itself as a top source for knowledge seekers online.

Discovery Communications has invested heavily in Discovery of late, buying online encyclopedia HowStuffWorks for $250 million in October -- its largest purchase to date -- with plans to introduce a daily primetime show based on the site as part of a new programming slate designed to stick to the channel's knowledge-based roots, while tapping new subject matters and formats.

Root had a long career as an independent producer before joining the British Broadcasting Corp., having supplied several programs to commercial broadcaster Channel 4. When the BBC tapped her, she garnered kudos on both sides of the Atlantic for adding such hits as game show The Weakest Link, acclaimed drama The Office and makeover What Not to Wear. All have been adapted and Americanized by U.S. networks, including Discovery's sister channel, TLC.

Meanwhile, Discovery will look for a new president/GM for Science, currently in 52 million homes, with the hope of making it a bigger presence to distributors, advertisers and viewers, Zaslav said.

"We see [Science] as a big horse, and we're going to bring in a big gun to run it," he added.

DNI Awards National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal to Former NCTC Director

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE
WASHINGTON, D. C .
20511

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ODNI News Release No. 25-07
November 19, 2007

DNI Awards National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal to Former NCTC Director

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell is pleased to announce that retired Vice Adm. John “Scott” Redd, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, has received the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal for his exceptional contributions to the Intelligence Community and defense of the nation.

Director McConnell presented Redd with the award – the highest granted by the DNI – at a Nov. 9 ceremony held in Redd’s honor at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C.

“Scott Redd has devoted his life to serving his nation,” the DNI said at the event, which attracted several other heads of IC agencies, including FBI Director Robert Mueller; CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden; Vice Adm. Robert Murrett, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; and Scott Large, director of the National Reconnaissance Office.

Redd also received at the ceremony other awards from IC partners, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the NGA.

His career in the Navy and as a senior U.S. Government leader spanned more than 40 years. As the inaugural director of the NCTC, he vastly improved the nation’s capacity to perform counterterrorism analysis and share information among departments and agencies. Under his leadership, the center developed the National Implementation Plan for the War on Terror to help focus U.S. efforts.

The National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal is an honorary award that recognizes “sustained, selfless service of the highest order and/or extraordinary and long-lasting contributions to the Intelligence Community and the United States by an individual in a position of great responsibility.”
# # #

Who Would Jesus Bomb? War, Peace, and the Christian

Here's the conclusion:

In truth, the guy with the "Visualize World Peace" bumper sticker is partly right. And so is Toby Keith when he talks about justice raining down with vengeance on the enemies of what's good and true. Both are grasping at something that can only be found in the gospel story of Christ Jesus. War is sometimes necessary, and we as Christians should be willing to support, fight, and die for our country in those times. But every time we see a war-even a just and necessary one-we should be reminded that it means we're still living in a world groaning under the weight of sin.

We shouldn't tie dye our shirts and pretend a United Nations enforced peace can end bloodshed. But neither should we callously cheer the violence of war, as if it were a video game. Yes, we should visualize peace-but only a real peace, when the true Emperor of the universe rules over a world so pacific that we cannot even imagine the violence we once saw on CNN, or on Animal Planet. On that day, and maybe not until that day, there won't be the sound of rattling swords, firing guns, or bombs bursting in air.

Why Write "The Decline of African American Theology"?

Thabiti Anyabwile's The Decline of African American Theology is finally off the press.

From Mark Noll's foreword: "It is remarkable that, to my knowledge, there has never been a book that attempts what Thabiti Anyabwile's The Decline of African American Theology attempts. . . . For both historical and theological reasons, this is a very important volume. . . . Because I have already learned so much from its pages, I am delighted to recommend it wholeheartedly to others."

Bono's Calling: The Irish Rocker Has a Mission: To Fight Poverty, and Enlist the Powerful in the Battle

U2 frontman Bono has made himself at home in the hallways -- and stairways -- of Congress in his quest to combat Third World poverty. (By Nikki Kahn -- The Washington Post)

The Ideal Christian Woman

The Ideal Christian Woman: Part 1
The Ideal Christian Woman: Part 2
The Ideal Christian Woman: Part 3
The Ideal Christian Woman: Part 4

Does Christianity Squash Women?

Free Books from the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood

Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood - edited by John Piper and Wayne Grudem

Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood - edited by Wayne Grudem

Biblical Womanhood in the Home - edited by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Building Strong Families - edited by Dennis Rainey

Equality in Christ - by Richard Hove

Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth - by Wayne Grudem

The Feminist Gospel - by Mary Kassian

The Feminist Mistake - by Mary Kassian

Women, Creation and the Fall - by Mary Kassian

Fifty Crucial Questions - by John Piper and Wayne Grudem

Man and Woman in Christ - by Stephen B. Clark

Pastoral Leadership for Manhood and Womanhood - edited by Wayne Grudem and Dennis Rainey

Rumors of Drug Use Have Damaged for Decades

Associated Press

Babe Dahlgren replaced Lou Gehrig at first base as Gehrig ended his 2,130-game streak in 1939.

The Sleep-Industrial Complex

Rodney Smith for The New York Times. Stylist: Renate Lindlar.

An Agent Fighting Steroids Harvests Trash and Turmoil

Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle

I.R.S. Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, left, walking ahead of Barry Bonds in 2003 when Mr. Bonds gave his grand jury testimony.

HONORING VICE ADMIRAL JOHN SCOTT REDD, U.S. NAVY (RET.) FOR FORTY YEARS OF PUBLIC SERVICE

[Congressional Record: November 14, 2007 (Extensions)]

[Page E2416]

From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:cr14no07-56]

HONORING VICE ADMIRAL JOHN SCOTT REDD, U.S. NAVY (RET.) FOR FORTY YEARS OF PUBLIC SERVICE

______

HON. PETER T. KING of new york in the house of representatives

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Mr. KING of New York. Madam Speaker, today I rise to recognize a dedicated public servant who devoted nearly four decades to protecting this great Nation. Vice Admiral John Scott Redd, U.S. Navy (Ret.), retired last week after serving as the first Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC).

Admiral Redd's accomplishments are many, having served thirty-six years in the United States Navy, which culminated in his assignment as the Director of Strategic Plans and Policy on the Joint Staff. Retiring from the Navy in 1998, Admiral Redd was again called to serve in 2004, this time as the Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, Iraq. He went on to serve as the Executive Director of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction where he influenced Community-wide intelligence reforms and made lasting improvements to America's national security.

Under his superior leadership, the National Counterterrorism Center developed into the Nation's premier intelligence and law enforcement fusion center, bridging all elements of the Intelligence Community to develop a national common intelligence picture. Admiral Redd tore down walls between Intelligence Community members and replaced a ``need to know'' philosophy with a ``responsibility to share'' environment.

Some of the Intelligence Community's successes are known such as the thwarted terrorist attacks against the Sears Tower, a Chicago-area shopping mall, military forces at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and multiple targets in New York, D.C. and elsewhere. Others remain classified.

However, in each instance, the National Counterterrorism Center played a key information sharing role which led to the successful prevention of these attacks against our citizens.

Admiral Redd is to be commended for his contributions to the Nation, but such a persevering service is not without a cost. For that I offer my personal thanks to his wife of over 37 years, Donna Redd, and their children Anne, Scott, and Adam, without whose support such service would not have been possible.

Not-So-Great Generation: The boomers will be best remembered for their self-glorification.

Ohio State vs. Michigan

MICHAEL ROSENBERG

CARR'S LAST STAND? Why Michigan coach is one of a kind

MICHIGAN VS. OSU: Noon (ABC) -- If Lloyd Carr were like one of those coaches in the movies, he would deliver the speech of his life today. He would tell his Michigan Wolverines that this was his last chance to beat Ohio State, and that he would remember this day for the rest of his life. | 3 Comments

• • Michigan-Ohio State scouting report and prediction
• • DREW SHARP: Why Rose Bowl hates the BCS; plus predictions for U-M, MSU
• • UPDATED: NFL Michigan alums make their U-M-OSU picks; Harris: Buckeyes due for a loss
• • Should Lloyd Carr retire after this season? You gave us your thoughts on the matter
• • ONE MORE CHANCE: Few Wolverines remain from '03 win
• • NFL draft may take a bite out of junior Buckeye defenders
• • Problems vs. Michigan, Florida stick in Ohio State’s minds
• • OHIO STATE: Beat Michigan and Buckeyes can go to national title game, not Rose Bowl
• • OUT-OF-TOWN COLUMNIST: Why Michigan has the edge over Ohio State
• • MITCH ALBOM: More to Mike Hart's chatter than meets the ear; U-M star reveals secrets
• • OHIO COLUMNIST: Why Michigan shouldn't win -- saving Carr might not save program
• • MICHAEL ROSENBERG: So what if Long, Henne and Hart are 0-3 against OSU?
• • DREW SHARP: If this is Carr's final season at U-M, he can leave with head held high
• • KEY STATS: U-M vs. OSU
• • THE KICKOFF: Your guide to today's U-M, MSU and local/national college games
• • CLICK HERE FOR MORE WOLVERINES COVERAGE

Photos: Mourning Joe Nuxhall

"We’ve lost someone essential to who we are around here. Joe Nuxhall represented what we like to think is the best of our nature: Friendly, approachable, loyal. If you need us, we’re there. We’re incapable of pretense. What better described Joe than that?

Here’s something else about us: Once we love you, we don’t leave. Joe never left. He never will.

Joe was summer. Joe was nights on the deck, a can of perspiring beverage in our hand. Joe was the big sky above, the mysterious sounds of the evening, what the composer Andrew Lloyd Weber calls “the music of the night.’’

Joe sounded like baseball: Lolling, drowsy, taking his own sweet time. We spend much effort running here and there, hoping at a dead run to wring meaning from our days. Joe taught us to slow down, put our feet up and listen to the ballgame. Baseball was not on the clock. Neither was Joe."

Picture by Nuxhall's statue outside of Great American Ballpark with memorial after he passed away.

Joe Nuxhall's seat in the Cincinnati Reds radio broadcast booth.

At nightfall, the "Rounding Third and Heading for Home" signoff line from Nuxhall was illuminated on the side of Great American Ball Park. All other ballpark lights were turned off in honor of Nuxhall.

Joe Nuxhall Remembered Video

Vote Joe Nuxhall into the MLB Hall of Fame

Butler County has kicked off a campaign to get Joe elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a broadcaster. Fans can vote Joe Nuxhall into the MLB Hall of Fame by following this link: VOTE HERE

Joe Nuxhall dies at 79

Joe Nuxhall Tribute Blog - The Reds invite you to please leave your comments here as a tribute to the "Ol' Lefthander" who brought so much joy to people for decades.


Marty on Nuxhall's last show

On Oct. 3, 2004, Joe Nuxhall retired from the Reds radio booth. His guest on the Reds postgame show was Marty Brennaman. These excerpts are from that conversation.

We remember our Cincinnati legend

Hundreds of comments have been left on our online remembrance board for "The Ol' Left-hander," Joe Nuxhall, the beloved Reds announcer who died Thursday night. People from all over the country have posted tributes, many talking about how Nuxhall...

TV shows share Nux's memories

Reds fans can see and hear Joe Nuxhall reminisce about his major-league debut, radio career and Reds history when WCET-TV repeats "Joe Nuxhall, My Life: Baseball on Beyond." Nuxhall recorded the four half-hour programs with WCPO-TV's Dennis Janson in...

How about that! Some of Joe's biggest calls

Concepcion hits it deep to left field ... and Davey got ahold of it. I don't believe it! I do not believe it! I don't believe it! Dave Concepcion has just hit a ball in the red seats in left field! Unbelievable!

Greatest of the greats

To understand how Hamilton and baseball were intertwined in Joe Nuxhall's heart, you had to be in Schwarm Stadium last August.

Speaking on the Ol' Lefthander

"He's one of the greatest human beings I've ever met. He's humble. He always thinks of others first. I know he was a great pitcher, and he's done a lot of other things. But I think everything else is second to him being a great human being."

Passion went far beyond baseball

Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall's old broadcast partner, predicts that Nuxhall's death is going to take time to get over - a long time.

He was 'indicative of everything that is Reds baseball'

On the last day of the Reds' 2007 season, Joe Nuxhall signed 190 books at the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum.

A career of second chances

"Joe Nuxhall," a longtime fan recently wrote to an Enquirer reporter, "is the personification of everything that is good about baseball and, of course, the Redlegs.

'He was a special friend'

For the many who knew him well and the millions who had known him only as a welcome voice on warm summer nights, Joe Nuxhall's passing was more than the loss of a broadcaster or ballplayer of renown. It was the loss of a dear friend.

Nuxhall's opinions grounded in truth

When Joe Nuxhall was asked a question about some baseball matter, he wasn't one of those guys who wet his finger and held it in the air to see which way the wind was blowing. He already knew how he felt, and he'd tell you.

From youngest to elder statesman

Joe Nuxhall, a fixture with the Reds for six decades as a player and radio broadcaster, was remembered Friday as a regular guy who just happened to be a beloved icon for the team and the city.

Marty's last memory: 'A beautiful day'

Marty Brennaman's last day spent with Joe Nuxhall was like so many others - a little golf, a lot of gags.

Family says Nux appreciated fans

The Nuxhall family made sure Friday that the public knew how Joe Nuxhall felt about them.

Nux was a Reds fan talking to other fans

Joe Nuxhall was the only person we ever have known about whom a bad word never, never was spoken. If you can go through an entire life and leave that as your epitaph, you've led quite a life.

Statue a focus for fans' grief

Where would Reds fans gather Friday, to show their grief and say thanks to an old friend?

Nux left impression on stadium sculptor

Tom Tsuchiya spent a fair amount of time with Joe Nuxhall, but it wasn't in a broadcast booth, on a baseball field or on a golf course. It was in a Walnut Hills sculpture studio.

He was just another Joe at the counter

FAIRFIELD - When Janet Evans heard Friday morning that Joe Nuxhall had died, she couldn't get to the Bob Evans Restaurant quick enough.

700WLW's tribute to Joe Nuxhall

Marty: 'It's been special'
Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman today remembered his longtime Reds radio partner Joe Nuxhall as one of the most widely loved heroes in our city's rich sports echelon.
Audio: Marty remembers Joe

Marty and Joe: Soundtrack of summer (11/16/2007)
Making the most of second chances (11/16/2007)
Video: Joe Nuxhall remembered (11/16/2007)
Rally urges: Vote for Joe (11/13/2007)
Butler leaders: Get Nuxie into Hall (11/12/2007)

'Regular Joe' touched countless lives
To friends and neighbors, the 'Ol Lefthander was just a regular Joe -- breakfasting at the Bob Evans counter, chatting with everyone he saw, and plowing neighbors’ driveways after a snow.

Breakfast gang cherishes Joe
The "counter culture'' gang that had breakfast each morning with Joe Nuxhall at the Bob Evans restaurant in Fairfield recalls the Ol' Lefthander with a special fondness.

Doc: We've lost an icon
Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty says Joe Nuxhall was the only person we’ve ever known about whom a bad word was never spoken.

Marty and Joe: Soundtrack of summer
As a broadcaster, Joe Nuxhall matched up with longtime partner Marty Brennaman like burgers with tomatoes at a summer cookout. They will be forever linked, even in Joe’s passing.

See a commemorative slideshow recalling memorable moments and calls from Joe Nuxhall's broadcasting careers.

View a timeline of highlights from Nuxhall's years in Cincinnati.

Jim Borgman's tribute to the 'Ol Left Hander.

• Read Enquirer reporter Kevin Kelly's profile of Joe Nuxhall on his retirement as one of the Reds' primary broadcasters.

• Read Marty Brennaman's open letter to Joe at his retirement.


JOE NUXHALL TRIBUTE NIGHT
Family, friends and fans paid tribute to Joe Nuxhall with a pre-game Ceremony on Sept. 18, 2004, at Great American Ball Park.
• Reds Honor Nuxhall »
• Video: Pre-game Ceremony: 350K
• Audio: Joe's Final Sign-off: Short | Long
• Audio: Joe Calls 1990 World Series »
• Audio: Tom Seaver's 3000th K »

JOE'S CAREER
Joe's 16 seasons as a big-league pitcher included two All-Star appearances and 135 lifetime wins. His broadcasting career spanned three ballparks and more than 7,000 games.
• Joe Nuxhall's Player Page » • Reds Hall of Fame Career Info » • Reds Broadcasters Page »

JOE'S PHOTO GALLERY
Relive Joe's six decades as a player, broadcaster and Reds legend -- from his historic debut as a 15-year-old pitcher to a memorable final season in the broadcast booth.
• Joe Nuxhall Photo Gallery » • Marty and Joe Wallpaper: 640 | 800 | 1024

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
"Back when I played with Joe, he had already been in the game 20 years. It seemed like he knew everything and everybody, always with a story to tell. Even back then Joe was a walking history book." - Tommy Helms
• More Quotes About Joe »

FRICK AWARD NOMINEE
Joe was nominated for the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually since 1978 for excellence in baseball broadcasting, following the 2006 season.
• Nuxhall up for Frick Award »

STATUE DEDICATION
On July 19, 2003, a bronze likeness of Joe became a fixture on Crosley Terrace at the entrance of Great American Ball Park.

• Reds Unveil Nuxhall Statue » • Statue Dedication Photos »

THE ENQUIRER/MICHAEL E. KEATING

Joe Nuxhall kisses his wife Donzetta after unveiling a statue of himself in front of Great American Ball Park in 2003. Nuxhall was one of four Reds greats honored with statues when the ballpark opened. The others were Frank Robinson, Ted Kluszewski and Ernie Lombardi.

With many major leaguers off to war, the Reds signed 15-year-old Joe Nuxhall to pitch the 1944 season. He is pictured with manager Bill McKechnie. Nuxhall still holds the title as youngest player ever in the major leagues.

History and Theology of the Puritans

Reformed Theological Seminary has blessed the wider Church by offering many class lectures for online download. These are available trough the iTunes store and come through your computer (for free!). Recently RTS may have added their best resource yet – History and Theology of the Puritans, a 16-part series delivered by Dr. J.I. Packer. [Packer penned the popular, A Quest For Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (Crossway: 1994).]

In iTunes, search for Reformed Theological Seminary. Under “RTS Virtual Courses” click on “Church History.” 4. Then click on “History and Theology of the Puritans" and then on the "get tracks."

In over 11 hours of lectures, Packer covers …

1. The Puritan Identity – pt. 1 (45:14)
2. The Puritan Identity – pt. 2 (33:10)
3. Puritan Theological Concerns – pt. 1 (45:54)
4. Puritan Theological Concerns – pt. 2 (45:03)
5. The Bible in Puritan Theology – pt. 1 (46:53)
6. The Bible in Puritan Theology – pt. 2 (46:01)
7. Salvation by Grace – pt. 1 (46:41)
8. Salvation by Grace – pt. 2 (46:37)
9. Faith and Assurance – pt. 1 (46:32)
10. Faith and Assurance – pt. 2 (46:16)
11. The Good Fight – pt. 1 (46:22)
12. The Good Fight – pt. 2 (31:45)
13. Conscience (44:06)
14. Reformed Monasticism (43:01)
15. The Christian Minister (44:22)
16. Worship, Fellowship, and Discipline in the Church (27:40)

Bono talks about U2’s latest song Wave of Sorrow

It's a powerful song relating their experiences they had while working in Ethiopia during the famine. Bono talks about how he was struck that such a "mythic country" like Ethiopia could turn into a totally "parched land" when before, their Queen Sheba's wealth was compared to that of King Solomon's. This song was from the Joshua Tree sessions, but was never finished. It will be available on the deluxe edition of the Joshua Tree re-mastered.

It's interesting to watch him explain some of the Biblical allusions while he's singing along with the track. Appearances are made by Solomon, Queen Sheba, the Beatitudes, and more.

Wave of Sorrow, by U2

Heat haze rising
On hell's own hill

You wake up this morning
It took an act of will
You walk through the night
To get into day
To bring your children
To give them away

Oh, oh this cruel sun
Its daylight never dawn

Cruelty just be gone
To make a shadow of everyone

And if the rain came
And if the rain came now

Souls bent over without a breeze
Blankets on burning trees
I'm sick without disease
Nobility on its knees

And if the rain came
And if the rain came now
Would it wash us all away
On a wave of sorrow
Wave
On a wave of sorrow

Where now the Holy cities
Where are the ancient Holy scrolls
Where now emperor Menelik
And queen of Sheeba's gold

You my bride, you wear her crown
And on your finger precious stones
Has every good thing now been sold?

Son, of shepherd boy, now king [ie. Solomon]
What wisdom can you bring
What lyric would you sing
Where is the music of the Seraphim

And if the rain came
And if the rain came now
Would it wash us all away
On a wave of sorrow
Wave
A wave of sorrow
Wave...

Blessed are the meek scratching the dirt
But they shall inherit what's left of the Earth
Blessed all the kings that left their thrones
They're buried in this Valley of Dry Bones

Blessed all of you with an empty heart
You got nothing from which you can't part
Blessed is the ego
It's all we got this hour

Blessed is the voice that speaks truth, truth speaks to power
Blessed is the sex worker who sold her body tonight
You had used what you got
To save your children's life

Blessed are you, the deaf cannot hear your scream
Blessed are the stupid who can dream
Blessed are the tin can cardboard slums
Blessed is the spirit that overcomes

One Race, Divisible

Hillary’s Achilles’ Heel: Brainy women don't frighten voters. Control freaks do.

Marriage Gap Threatens the Black American Dream

The Space Race

SpaceTrader.com is the official Web site of the gift shop at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. One of the toys you can buy there is the "woman astronaut figure":

“This 11.5" doll comes outfitted in an astronaut jumpsuit and includes functional space luggage. All packed in a pink backpack. Official decals of NASA logo and STS-107 crew patch adorn the luggage case. Also available in African-American.”

That is, you can buy a doll that looks black. NASA is catering to the widespread belief that black dolls are good for black children's self-esteem, and by using the term "African-American," NASA is trying to be politically correct.

It needs to try harder. If the "black" doll is "African-American," what is the "white" doll? "American"! Seriously, that's what the drop-down menu on the Web site says. Do we really need to explain that African-Americans are American too? C'mon, guys, this isn't exactly rocket science.

Nov. 14, 2007

We Get Results
Our item yesterday seems to have prompted SpaceTrader.com, the Web site of the gift shop at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, to change the way it designates its "woman astronaut figure." The figure is now available in two hues, "Caucasian" and "African-American." What is now called "Caucasian" yesterday was simply "American."

Of course, this still discriminates against non-American blacks. Whereas white people are "Caucasian" whether they're from America, Europe or the Caucasus, blacks from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and elsewhere are excluded from the "African-American" category.

The Mickey Mouse MBA: What Mickey, Goofy and Cinderella Can Teach America's Top CEOs

Hillary cartoon woes

Derek Webb in Patrol Magazine

part one covers growing up in the South, how Derek came to music, and visions for the music industry.
Part two has Derek offering a critique of the music industry and his opinions on culture and the church.

A Church-Based Hope for “Adultolescents”

Failure Is Not An Option: Great books on the Space Race

Failure is not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond
by Gene Kranz

"Live from Cape Canaveral": Covering the Space Race, from Sputnik to Today
by Jay Barbree

The Last Man on the Moon: Astronaut Eugene Cernan and America's Race in Space
by Eugene Cernan

First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong
by James R. Hansen

Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut
by Mike Mullane

Rocketman : Astronaut Pete Conrad's Incredible Ride to the Moon and Beyond
by Nancy Conrad, Howard A. Klausner, and Buzz Aldrin

A Man on the Moon
by Tom Hanks and Andrew Chaikin

Space
by James A. Michener

The Right Stuff
by Tom Wolfe

Yeager: An Autobiography
by Chuck Yeager

Space Flight
by Giles Sparrow